DIIV surprised us with this one. For one thing, we aren't used to such a quick turnaround from Z. Cole Smith and friends. They tend to take a fairly long time between albums, but the masterful Frog In Boiling Water came out just over two years ago, so the recent teasers for a forthcoming DIIV LP called ZIRP! were unexpected.
Even more startling was the news that the band had teamed up with A. G. Cook, the PC Music founder and sonic visionary now best known for his close working relationship with Charli XCX. Cook was cooking up rock music long before "Rock Music," but a hyperpop pioneer is an intriguing fit for DIIV given their mastery of the grungy shoegaze dirge. Now we get to hear them in action together.
The band has officially announced ZIRP! today — it's out just before Halloween; that's the cover art up above — and shared its lead single and opening track. "The Fountain" is very much a DIIV song, full of whispery vocals and ominous guitars. But the oscillating synth-powered beat that kicks in at the end along with the woozy lead guitar line is something new and exciting for this crew. It's certainly not the first time a dreamy rock band has ventured into the world of electronic pop, but it's one of the best iterations of the post-"Soon" paradigm I've heard in some time.
Cook says when DIIV first approached him, "it was in the spirit of destroying & rebuilding their demos, Screamadelica-style, into a finished product, but that hybrid, half-remix approach felt completely wrong to me." Instead, he started going to DIIV shows and developing a grand theory of their music. He continues:
I became a bit obsessed with their live sound, and insisted on recording live drums before most of the songs were even finished. We spent a lot of time recording intricate guitar parts with specific guitar pedals, and as little time as possible doing anything on a computer, at least by my standards. After a few rounds of that, ZIRP! emerged as a concept, and a sort of utopian, dystopian mantra. For me it became a vehicle to push the band into new territory.
DIIV are framing ZIRP! as part of a movement they're calling the New Alternative, in which artists like Slayyyter, Eartheater, and Turnstile are forcing "old-guard gatekeepers" to find new ways to understand music beyond established categories. Below, join them in this glorious post-genre future by listening to "The Fountain."
TRACKLIST:
01 "The Fountain"
02 "Kid"
03 "When The Glow Came For Us"
04 "Dare Me"
05 "The Crash"
06 "Trillions"
07 "Us Against You"
08 "Evangelizer"
09 "Underground"
10 "My Star"
11 "Idiot In The Sky"
ZIRP! is out 10/30 on Fantasy. Pre-order it here.
