Ocean Songs is the fourth major album by Australian trio, Dirty Three

Dirty Three

Dirty Three are an instrumental trio consisting of Warren Ellis , Mick Turner and Jim White , originating from Melbourne, Australia. Since the Dirty Three formed in 1992, they have spent a lot of time overseas...

. On some tracks David Grubbs

David Grubbs

David Grubbs , guitarist, pianist, and vocalist, was a founding member of Squirrel Bait, Bastro, and Gastr del Sol. He has also played in Codeine, The Red Krayola, Bitch Magnet and The Wingdale Community Singers....

 plays piano and harmonium. Cover art by guitarist Mick Turner

Mick Turner

Mick Turner is an Australian musician and painter best known as the guitarist for Dirty Three.Prior to his work with Dirty Three, Turner was a member of several Melbourne-based rock bands: Sick Things , The Moodists , Fungus Brains , and Venom P...

.

A special release version was issued by their UK record label, Bella Union

Bella Union

Bella Union is an independent record label that was started up by Simon Raymonde and Robin Guthrie in 1997.After releasing records with 4AD for a large part of their career, Cocteau Twins decided to take a step towards independence and started up the Bella Union record label, through which they...

, in 2005 that contained the original album along with a live DVD.

Also in 2005 the album was performed live in London in its entirety as part of the All Tomorrow's Parties

All Tomorrow's Parties (music festival)

All Tomorrow's Parties is a music festival which takes place at Camber Sands holiday camp in East Sussex and Butlin's holiday camp in Minehead, Somerset, England....

-curated Don't Look Back

Don't Look Back (concert series)

Don't Look Back is a yearly series of concerts in which London based promoters All Tomorrow's Parties ask artists and bands to play one of their seminal albums live in its entirety...

 series, a performance that was later repeated in Barcelona and Mt Buller, Australia and will also feature as part of the 2009 ATP New York Festival.

In October 2010, Ocean Songs by Dirty Three was listed in the book, 100 Best Australian Albums

100 Best Australian Albums

100 Best Australian Albums is a compendium of rock and pop albums of the past 50 years as compiled by music journalists Toby Creswell, Craig Mathieson and John O'Donnell. The book was published on 25 October 2010 by Hardie Grant Books...

.

Track listing

1. "Sirena" – 4:06
2. "The Restless Waves" – 5:09
3. "Distant Shore" – 5:50
4. "Authentic Celestial Music" – 10:04
5. "Backwards Voyager" – 4:34
6. "Last Horse on the Sand" – 4:52
7. "Sea Above, Sky Below" – 6:04
8. "Black Tide" – 4:35
9. "Deep Waters" – 16:27
10. "Ends of the Earth" – 5:11

Special Edition DVD track listing

1. "Last Horse on the Sand"
2. "Distant Shore"
3. "Authentic Celestial Music"
4. "Sue's Last Ride"
5. "Deep Waters"