Irish alt-pop artist Ocean Tisdall returns with the raw and deeply personal new single "Sugar In His Tea"
Irish alt-pop artist Ocean Tisdall started making music from a very young age and credits his mom, pop culture, love of country music and storytelling as early inspirations. Ocean spent the past year reconnecting with his passion for storytelling by stepping away from the spotlight to write a deeply personal and heartfelt acoustic project. Known for his introspective and evocative lyrics, Ocean’s return signals a new layer to his sound - one that is rich with raw emotion and unfiltered vulnerability in his voice.
Drawing early comparisons to vocal powerhouses like Lewis Capaldi, Cian Ducrot, Alex Warren, Tom Odell and Troye Sivan, Ocean is stepping into a new league, one where authenticity and emotional depth reign. His music delivers an intimate look at the highs and lows of life, love, and self-discovery as he embodies a deeper dimension of expression. The project dishes soulful vocals paired with a beautifully minimalist, acoustic soundscape. Speaking about the song, Ocean says
‘‘I wrote Sugar in His Tea kind of by accident, to be honest. I’d been with someone for two years when they asked if we could go on a break - and those two weeks of limbo felt like hell. I was a mess. At one point early on, I left the house just to get a coffee - because that’s all I could stomach - and on the walk, I started seeing him in strangers. I had to do double takes, realizing it wasn’t him. I felt like I was losing it.
I sat down in a coffee shop, opened my Notes app, just to put down some thoughts and wrote: I’ve aged two years in two weeks. My diet is coffee. I’m seeing you in people on the street. Then I closed the app and didn’t think much of it.
Eventually, I flew back home to Ireland - I needed support, needed the comfort of family. I was talking to my mam and said the words , If we do break up, the next person won’t know that he doesn’t take sugar in his tea. They won’t know he likes space when he’s falling asleep.
They don’t know all the little things I do. So I think sometimes that's where your head goes during the time like that to someone else eventually having the person that you love.
Later, I went upstairs and added that to the notes I’d written in the café. I played an old instrumentali found, and everything I’d jotted down over those days just came together - it became the song.
I think when someone breaks up with you, people expect you to feel anger, bitterness, maybe even hatred. But for me, it wasn’t like that. I wasn’t angry - I was heartbroken, trying to make sense of why I wasn’t enough to make them stay.
I internalized everything. My mind kept circling back to this one thought that eventually they'll find someone new and If I couldn’t make you happy, maybe someone else can. And maybe, if I gave the next person a bit of a head start - they could hold on to you in a way I couldn’t. Which sounds crazy but at the time, I thought so little of myself and held them so highly. I put them on a pedestal and left myself at the bottom. I genuinely believed that - even if it came at the cost of my own peace - I just wanted them to be happy. And if that happiness meant being with someone else, then I told myself I’d learn to live with that.
Looking back, I can see there was a quiet bitterness in that - maybe not obvious at the time, but it’s there, woven into the song. I didn’t even realize it then. But now, with distance, I can feel it. The heartbreak. The helplessness. And that subtle sting underneath it all’’
“Sugar in His Tea” marks the beginning of this new chapter. Ocean’s rich vocals take centre-stage, guiding listeners through an emotional journey that is at once intimate and universal and captures the beauty of raw emotion - a perfect representation of the person and artist Ocean has become.
After a year of introspection and growth, Ocean Tisdall is ready to share his most vulnerable work yet, proving he’s more than just a rising star - he’s becoming an icon in the making.