Diana seems to be the biggest name in town at the moment, with Diana Vickers’s highly anticipated album coming out soon. However, it’s Toronto 4-piece DIANA who are the band you’ll soon be raving about.
Vocalist Carmen Elle’s effortless voice fronts the record, a album which is an amalgamation of soft retro rock, laidback organ synths and even a jazz saxophone. With a strong 80’s synth pop influence and tinges of Passion Pit, Goldfrapp and Lana Del Rey, it’s hard to pinpoint exactly why this is a great record.
During ‘Perpetual Surrender’ Elle’s voice declares “I don’t need somebody else / to know how much I love you”, and that’s about as sombre as it gets. The keyboard throughout maintains the lackadaisical tone and never quite hits a peak, but you don’t want it to. Rather than a 3 mile swim you’re simply enjoying a dip. This is an album to bathe in and let it wash over you.
On ‘New House’ they’ve torn up the track, warped it and distorted it, but it’s somehow still as soothing at Attenborough on a Sunday. One criticism of the record is that it’s too short. Although ‘New House’ verges on 6 minutes long, I still want more. The final song is aptly titled ‘Curtains’ which is an affecting piece of music to end a refreshingly chilled album.
Diana are a softer Haim and a dreamier Policia that I would recommend to anyone. A definite 8/10 for this 80’s indie delight.
Perpetual Surrender was released on August 19th on Jagjaguwar.