Frazey Ford To Release ‘Indian Ocean Deluxe Edition’ With 3 Previously Unreleased Songs

Originally released in October 2014, Frazey Ford’s acclaimed album Indian Ocean returns this year with a special vinyl reissue, out September 19th. The digital edition also includes three previously unreleased covers, recorded during the original sessions with The Hi Rhythm Section, now unearthed for the first time – offering a new window into the soulful, deeply personal record that’s continued to captivate audiences for over a decade.

“In a lot of ways, ‘Indian Ocean’ defined an era of my life,” says Frazey. “It wasn’t until I released this album that I feel I really hit my stride as a solo artist. With some space from it, I look back and it all feels like such a dream that it even happened. It seems to be hitting its stride well beyond past the time we made it, and it’s just one of the most synchronistic and magical points in my career.”

The story of this album first began with filmmaker and writer Robert Gordon who was working on a documentary on Memphis soul, which focused on Al Green and long-time producer Willie Mitchell’s creative home base, Royal Studios. After Gordon heard Frazey’s song, “If You Gonna Go,” on the radio, he invited her to record at Royal Studios in Memphis. That journey sparked a collaboration that would eventually become Indian Ocean.

After years in the hugely successful The Be Good Tanyas, Indian Ocean marked a bold evolution in Frazey’s sound, blending her folk roots with the unmistakable groove of Memphis soul, something hinted at in her 2010 debut solo record Obadiah, but that didn’t become fully formed until working with Al Green’s band, The Hi Rhythm Section. The iconic architects of the famous singer’s instrumental sound helped define the Memphis soul sound at the peak of the Stax era and also happened to be one of Frazey’s favourite bands.

“When I first heard “Love and Happiness,” I thought it was the most beautiful song I’d ever heard,” says Frazey. “From that point on, I have always been obsessed with that band, in particular, the organ, the arrangements, I never get tired of it.”

So when the opportunity to work with them came up, Frazey flew straight to Memphis despite not really having many songs written. Made up of brothers Charles Hodges (organ), Leroy Hodges (bass) and Teenie Hodges (guitar) the trio lent their almighty talents to help Frazey’s songs find their distinctive groove. Accentuating her sensual and opulent vocals with deep-bottomed bass, subtle backbeats, and soaring organ melodies to infuse Frazey’s songwriting with a rich, timeless warmth. The result is a modern classic. That rare perfect album where every song delivers.

“It was so wild to meet these people and to be in Memphis and to be in that studio. Singing in Ann Peebles microphone and collaborating with these incredibly talented heroes of mine. I could feel the history and vibe of that place coming up through the floor,” Frazey remembers.

But Ford and longtime co-producer/drummer John Raham didn’t want to come into the Memphis studio, prescribing everyone’s role. And you can feel it in the spirit of the record.

“At the start, they thought they were just going to be guns for hire, they didn’t realise I was looking for real collaboration. So once we played a few songs they really opened up. The main thing about collaborating with them was that they just responded so intuitively to whatever I delivered emotionally. They reacted so subconsciously as a unit, the way that those brothers worked together was just so magical and phenomenal. They were always pushing the limits and they were always furthering that sound.”

Charles Hodges speaking in 2017: “Frazey’s way of presenting is unique, I’d never been used to doing this type of music before but when I did the first song it embraced me and I didn’t want it to come off me, I just wanted to embrace it, it was beautiful. I just had a feeling about the whole project – I knew what we could do but we didn’t want to do anything, we wanted to do it with Frazey.”

Frazey wanted the collaboration to have spontaneity and it’s an energy that spanned the continent, from Memphis to Vancouver. In the end, the album incorporated the skills of at least 16 musicians in total, including Be Good Tanyas member Trish Klein playing guitar on two tracks, guitarists Darren Parris, Craig McCaul, pianist Phil Cook, the golden horn arrangements of Jim Spake, Scott Thompson and JP Carter, and the undulating tides of Debra Jean Creelman’s and Caroline Ballhorn’s backing vocals.

A firm fan and critic favourite, Indian Ocean has become a defining record in Frazey’s career. It’s a timeless album that blends soul, folk, and R&B into a rich, emotionally resonant soundscape that continues to find new audiences eleven years on. Highlights of course include the hopeful album opener, “September Fields” and the now iconic “Done,” a break up song that’s part Rickie Lee Jones, part power-drill. “Natural Law” is another fierce, motoring track, driving on the back of a wickedly throbbing bass pulse, channeling some of Al Green’s grimier cuts. “You’re Not Free’s” cool, breezy lead and backing vocals are the calm before the storm, the song reaching critical mass in a storming surge of impassioned organ and fiery electric guitar. But there are soft nuances that make this record special too, songs like “Three Golden Trees,” “You Got Religion” and “Weather Pattern,” a delicate and deceptively simple song about mortality and of course the album’s sophisticated title track – a dreamy, mental wandering over the ocean that feels like baptism.

To celebrate the re-issue, Frazey delved into the original recordings to uncover three previously unheard songs. Expanding the album is Otis Redding cover “The Happy Song (Dum-Dum)” (out today) and a version of Van Morrison’s “Crazy Love” (out August 22) – both recorded in the very first sessions at Royal Studios as a way of finding their groove and to get a sense of how things might work. They capture a moment in time of the exploration that led to Indian Ocean. “With Teenie no longer with us, it felt like we had to put them out in the world,” says Frazey. “He loved our version of “Happy Song.” That’s a big part of why I’m including these. It felt like I had Teenie’s ghost on my shoulder saying ‘You gotta put these tracks out.’ It feels like we’re honoring him.”

The third new track is a stunning re-work of Ann Peebles “Trouble, Heartaches & Sadness,” Which was recorded in Vancouver’s Afterlife Studios, but still featuring Charles Hodges, who recorded his part in Memphis.  

Frazey shares, “I don’t tend to do a lot of love songs or covers, but these are three love songs by three of my favourite artists, and I thought they made a nice collection unto themselves, and a nice addition to the album. They’re special to me as they reflect a moment in time in this space of collaboration.”

There’s a lightness and a hallowed grace that still comes with listening to Indian Ocean – like being blessed. Frazey unearths lyrical intimacies with honesty, a giving heart, and a sharpness that combines the pretty, the reflective, and the searingly forthright. Ultimately, Indian Ocean is a record about renewal, strength, knowing when to breathe in and let go, trusting yourself, letting the waves rush over, and appreciating all the things worth loving. A sentiment as relevant now as it was in 2014. 

Reflecting on it all these years later Frazey concludes, “The fact that I got to make this record with those guys, that it took me all over the world. It changed my life and changed me as an artist, changed everyone in my band. We still just shake our heads at the sheer synchronicity that we got to essentially go to the temple of these artists that we respect the most in the world and then to collaborate with them. The fact that the music is still reaching people, that these songs are still moving people and moving out in the world – it’s just this crazy magical thing to me.”

Indian Ocean Deluxe Edition is out September 19th via Nettwerk.

Indian Ocean Deluxe Edition Track Listing:
1. September Fields
2. Runnin’
3. You’re Not Free
4. Done
5. Three Golden Trees
6. U Got Religion
7. Season After Season
8. Natural Law
9. Weather Pattern
10. Indian Ocean
11. September Fields (Acoustic)
12. Happy Song (Dum-Dum) – DIGITAL ONLY
13. Crazy Love – DIGITAL ONLY
14. Trouble, Heartaches & Sadness – DIGITAL ONLY

Frazey tours Europe later this year, catch her live:

Saturday, October 25 – Black Deer Festival in the City | Tobacco Docks, London, UK
Monday, October 27 – Button Factory | Dublin, IE
Tuesday, October 28 – Sligo Live Festival at Hawks Wells Theatre | Sligo, IE
Thursday, October 30 – La Maroquinerie | Paris, FR
Friday, October 31 – Tolhuistuin | Amsterdam, NL
Saturday, November 1 – Take Root Festival | Groningen, NL
Sunday, November 2 – Doornroosje | Nijmegen, NL
Monday, November 3 – TivoliVredenburg Cloud Nine | Utrecht, NL
Wednesday, November 5 – Festival Bebop (Salle Athena) | La Ferte Bernard, FR
Saturday, November 8 – Klub Nalen | Stockholm, SE
Sunday, November 9 – Pustervik | Goteborg, SE
Tuesday, November 11 – Heimathafen | Berlin, DE
Wednesday, November 12 – Bahnhof Pauli | Hamburg, DE