Swedish alt-pop visionary RIVER returns with her haunting new single "Lost in the Ocean"
Swedish alt-pop visionary RIVER returns with her most vulnerable release to date, “Lost in the Ocean,” a haunting meditation on self-sabotage, detachment, and the hollow pursuit for something more. The single is accompanied by artwork by Gabriela Danerlöv, and a striking video, conceptualised by RIVER, immersing the viewer in a surreal, submerged world.
“When I wrote ‘Lost in the ocean’, I tried to see myself through the eyes of those I left behind,” RIVER shares. “To me, the song is about uncompromisingly choosing your own path, driven by the fear of commitment. It’s my confession of how I used relationships as a substance to escape loneliness, or as stepping stones in my chase for self-actualization. It’s basically about destructiveness, and the hollow feeling of always wanting more.”
Produced by collaborators August Vinberg, Johannes Henriksson, and Rickard Andersson, “Lost in the Ocean” is set against a backdrop of ghostly textures and cinematic minimalism. Drawing from dream-pop, avant-garde soul, and stripped alt-pop, the team has created a soundscape that is both emotionally fragile and atmospherically rich - a track that refuses to look away from the pain it reveals.
The accompanying video, directed by RIVER and shot by Peter Milanov, plunges the viewer into a hazy, submerged reality. Wearing a custom piece by Emily Gullbo, RIVER drifts through a weightless, crystalline expanse. This suggestive journey culminates in the striking image of an umbilical cord, tethering her to another version of herself.
“The video symbolizes my experience of creative devotion separating me from the real world, creating a space that is both beautiful and repulsive in its self-glorification,” RIVER explains. “I saw this more as an art installation than a traditional music video; a creature who has cannibalized intimacy to feed her own art. The umbilical cord represents being stuck in old patterns, nourished by the validation of others without giving anything back.”
Following the underground success of “I AM CANCER” and “Infected mind”, “Lost in the Ocean” continues RIVER’s journey into radical emotional transparency and sonic experimentation. Blending the introspective power of artists like Portishead and Mazzy Star with a deeply personal lyrical lens, she crafts songs that sit between confession and performance art.
Raised in Gothenburg and now based in Stockholm, RIVER is a boundary-pushing artist whose music explores grief, identity, and the complicated beauty of being human. Her path into music began after the loss of her father at seventeen, when she set out into the world, playing on the streets of Australia and Mexico. That period shaped the voice that would later define her art , known for emotionally charged performances and genre-blurring soundscapes.
While her debut EP ‘STILL IN LOVE’ introduced themes of sexuality and attachment difficulties, RIVER’s new work goes deeper, confronting trauma, shame, and the possibility of healing.
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