“Captain” Kirk Douglas, longtime guitarist of The Roots, an American hip-hop band most commonly known for their frequent guest appearances and job as the head backing band for NBC’s The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, is now a solo act, releasing a new album set for release this upcoming November 4th, under the moniker of Hundred Watt Heart, titled New Unknown.  Steering away from his hip-hop “roots,” Kirk Douglas’ new music takes samples and hints from 60s psychedelic rock and  Afrobeat with a tinge of blues to create feel-good music whose repeating beats and vocalic synths fail to feel repetitive. 

To raise support for the upcoming album, “Captain” Kirk Douglas has recently shared a new single off the tracklist called “Over The Ocean.” 

When asked about the inspiration behind this track, Douglas responded that the song “talks about the bombardment of social media and how confusion can happen from it. Of course, we can all be connected through social media, but it can also distort reality. I’ve had so many conversations with people my age about the beauty of time before all of it. It’s important to maintain a part of your life that’s not social media-centric.”

A groove-heavy track that opens with powerful guitar riffs that continue to take up most of the song’s “sonic real estate,” a characteristic reminiscent of the artist’s long-term experience and talent, Douglas’ “Over the Ocean” demonstrates a willingness to survive whilst feeling as they’re on the verge of death; Douglas is struggling to keep his head “over the ocean,” barely avoiding death by drowning but just doing enough to survive. His new song incites a feeling of communal hopelessness as he wonders if we can keep our heads up, despite lying awake pondering why the days feel the same and why nothing changes even though everyone complains. Douglas opens the song by singing “I’m not okay” and that he’s trying to “make sense of it all” and that he feels like “we’ve lost our way.” The emphasis on the use of “we” makes listeners empathize with Douglas as they suffer together through an emotional crisis felt by many. 

Listen to the song below.

Check out this article about “Captain” Kirk Douglas’ other uplifting new song “We Can Be One” here.

Photo Credit: Owen Ela