When Oceansize released Self Preserved While the Bodies Float Up in 2010, it felt like both a high point and a goodbye. The Manchester quintet had spent a decade pushing modern British rock into stranger, more expansive territory, and their fourth album was the most concise and perhaps most brutal statement of their career. Months later, the band quietly disbanded, leaving behind a catalogue that would only grow in influence.

Originally released in 2010, Self Preserved While the Bodies Float Up marked both a culmination and a parting shot – the fourth and final full-length from Oceansize, a band widely regarded as one of the most innovative and uncompromising acts in modern British rock. Now, fifteen years on, this definitive 3LP edition casts fresh light on the landmark album.  

Painstakingly remastered and presented across three black vinyl LPs, this anniversary edition includes around 30 minutes of previously unheard material – six bonus tracks, three of which feature newly recorded vocals by Mike Vennart, offering a rare glimpse into alternate futures that never came to pass. Far from studio offcuts, these are fully-formed works, some of which now sound eerily prophetic. 

Across its original tracklist, the record still feels startlingly uncompromising. The opener, “Part Cardiac” lurches forward with near-violent force, while “Build Us a Rocket Then” captures the band’s talent for sheer overwhelm. In contrast, “Pine” drifts into glacial fragility, reminding listeners that Oceansize were as comfortable with weightless ambience as they were with crushing intensity. Elsewhere, guest turns from Simon Neil of Biffy Clyro and Claire Lemmon of Sidi Bou Said underscore just how wide the group’s frame of reference had become by this point.

Oceansize never played the industry game, never settled into easy categories, and never gave in to repetition. That refusal to compromise cost them longevity but gave them lasting resonance. As Prog Magazine once put it: “A band that never repeated themselves, yet always sounded like nobody else.”

Self Preserved While the Bodies Float Up will be released on 18th October 2025 via a 3LP black vinyl set. Pre-orders are now available HERE