OCULA felt like he hit more than a few literal crossroads. As he openly described himself, there’d been countless instances in his musical journey that began over five years ago where he was left questioning whether or not it was even worth continuing to pursue his dream. And when he was able to reach the point where he was wholly reassured what he was creating held actual meaning behind it, he decided to look back and reflect on “those moments where it would’ve been so much easier to give up.” That period of self-reflection eventually turned into a full-length debut album, with OCULA now taking to This Never Happened to formally hand in his 12-track LP, Crossroad.

Crossroad truly couldn’t have been more aptly named considering it’s built from the ground up as a sonic embodiment of what OCULA had overcome. Preceded by “Green Willow” with Phillip LaRue, “Be There” with Tailor, and “The Last Turn” and joined by additional vocal backing from MAVICA, Richard Walters, Crooked Bangs, Tailor—who may be familiar from Jerro’s “In The Dark“—and Blond Maze, OCULA’s freshman album beautifully captures those times where feelings of hopelessness can turn into pure optimism. Through 12 refined cuts of blissful, delicately crafted melodic house, Crossroad not only validates OCULA’s decision to originally reach out to Lane 8 in 2018 and send early versions of his music, but also further solidifies his placement as a melodic house talent that’s doing everything right.

Stream OCULA’s masterful debut album Crossroad in its entirety below.

Featured image: Adrian Vago

Tags: OCULA, this never happened

Categories: Music