Review: Lottie P, Colin Riley, Nic Pendlebury, Steve Pretty ft. Helen Czerski & George Monbiot - Ocean Songs (Squeaky Kate Music)

In an increasingly mixed up world where there is so much confusion and entrenched position on any subject you'd care to mention, even post 'Blue Planet'/David Attenborough, there still needs an agit-project-band to raise awarness with the help of eco-educators Helen Czerski and George Monbiot.

This unusual new collaborative album has a cross-genre collection of composer Colin Riley, Lottie P (post-punksters, Goat Girl), Steve Pretty (Inner-City punk-brass, Hackney Colliery Band) and Nic Pendlebury (founder/electric violist, The Smith Quartet) and they have a message of the "village" ethos as we're all connected by water and here are ten songs to celebrate the Ocean.

Commissioned for the First Light Festival in 2025, held in Greenwich at the Royal Museums, as a "docu-pop" project with as an contemporary classical, ambient, jazz, rock experiment to connect with "our ocean" with ten songs exploring "whales, waves, myths and climate, with spoken-word contributions from oceanographer Helen Czerski and broadcaster, George Monbiot".

You want be able to pin it down as it can harmoniously flit from spoken word observations of Czerski* (British physicist, oceanographer, writer, broadcaster and television presenter) and OG "eco -warrior" Monbiot.

For those with long memories, nealy 20 years ago, may recall one of the most unusual collaborations, The Imagined Village as a folk/pop/punk band meets Transglobal Underground (in both name and group!).  Well, this album is much more focused as a sort of Stereolab goes to the Science museum with track titles, 'Ebbt & Flow', 'Plastic', 'Blue Machine', 'Passengers', 'Sirens', 'Sunrise', 'Sing The Whale', 'Every Wave', 'Flotsam & Jetsam' and 'We Are Ocean' are touchstone to the Panthalassa/Pangea theme.

'Sing The Whale' featuring Monbiot, like a Benjamn Zephaniah/Billy Bragg to Imagined Village, with Lottie P and the Whale starring (is the whale Steve P and Nic P a musical kiss?)

Of course, there's a sense of profound underlying sadness to the message (as it's man's fault) but that shouldn't put you off as there is hope in the music, like 'Every Wave' and 'Flotsam & Jetsam'.

Hopefully they'll be more live performances, in 2025 Melanie Pappheim guested in Lowestoft (with local community singers which is a great idea).  It'd would be great to see this performed at festivals too but for now, there's a CD and digital release with a London launch party at Theatreship, Canary Wharf on 24th March.

Don't forget, 'We Are Ocean'!

*Helen Czerski reads excerpts from her award-winning oceanography book ‘Blue Machine: How the Ocean Shapes our World’ (Penguin Books).

BUY LINK / PRE-ORDER: Music | Squeaky Kate Music

Artist:  Lottie P, Colin Riley, Nic Pendlebury, Steve Pretty ft. Helen Czerski & George Monbiot

Title: Ocean Songs

Release date: 24th March, 2026

Label :  Squeaky Kate Music

Catalog Number : TBC

Format: CD / Digital / Bandcamp