Wild Oceans

There are songs about becoming a parent, and then there are songs that actually understand the beautiful, sleep-deprived, emotionally fucked-up reality of it. Wild Oceans’ “Losing Myself” sits firmly in the second category, capturing that strange moment when your entire world changes overnight and you suddenly realise that the person you were yesterday isn't quite the person you've become today.

Recorded at John Cornfield’s home studio in Cornwall, the track carries an appropriately intimate feel, matching its deeply personal subject matter. Rather than reaching for the obvious sentimental buttons, Wild Oceans tap into the emotional rollercoaster of becoming a first-time parent — the love, the fear, the exhaustion, the exhilaration and that slightly terrifying sensation of watching your old identity disappear beneath a mountain of nappies, responsibility and unconditional love.

“Losing Myself” works because it understands the contradiction at the heart of becoming a parent: you can feel like you're losing yourself while simultaneously discovering an entirely new version of who you are. It's messy, confusing and occasionally overwhelming, but there is something hugely liberating about admitting that rather than pretending you've got the whole fucking thing figured out.

The Cornwall recording setting adds another layer of warmth to the track, with Cornfield's reputation for capturing honest, characterful performances making the home-studio environment feel like exactly the right place for a song this personal.

There's no grandstanding here, just an honest confrontation with one of life's biggest changes. “Losing Myself” is vulnerable without being mawkish, reflective without disappearing up its own arse, and ultimately hopeful without pretending that parenthood is some Instagram-filtered walk through a field of daisies.

Sometimes you don't find yourself by knowing exactly who you are. Sometimes you find yourself by admitting you've changed. Wild Oceans have turned that realisation into one hell of a song.

For more information: Wild Oceans