Diamond Seas

by Sonic Youth

Diamond Seas cover art
  • Type: Album
  • Released: 18 Apr 2026
  • Label: Geffen
  • Country: United States
  • Length: 41:28

Album Notes & Community Reviews

The 2026 Record Store Day release 'Diamond Seas' reimagines Sonic Youth's landmark song, 'The Diamond Sea', through a 'plunderphonic' lens. Producer John Oswald deconstructs and orchestrates 32 separate live performances of the track, creating two new, distinct side-long pieces that each clock in at over twenty minutes. One side sources performances exclusively from 1995 while the other uses recordings from 1996, resulting in a warped and immersive exploration of the 'Washing Machine' classic that offers a radical, disorienting spin on archival material.

Genres

Descriptors: dissonant, NOISY, sprawling, improvisational, improvisation

Tracklist

  1. Diamond Seas 1995 (20:44)
  2. Diamond Seas 1996 (20:44)

Credits

  • Sonic Youth - primary artist
  • Kim Gordon - written-by
  • Lee Ranaldo - written-by
  • Steve Shelley - written-by
  • Thurston Moore - written-by

More from Sonic Youth: full discography