I don’t, by any means, yearn for the days when a new act could release a single song and set the blogosphere – such as it was called way back when – alight with rapturous praise. But it is nice, every now and again, to see something wholly unknown namecheck all the right influences and not, well, disappoint.
London duo deary – Dottie and Ben, surnames as verboten as upper-case letters – showed up in my news feed this morning with the press release for their debut single “Fairground” talking about late-era Cocteau Twins and Saint Etienne, and mastered by Slowdive’s Simon Scott. Check, check, check. Add hazy vocals, Beach House-y keyboard lines, trip-hop-y drum loops, and shimmering guitars accompanying an every-filter-available video? Dopamine release in 3… 2… 1.
Says Dottie about the song:
As a kid, I found fairgrounds incredibly overwhelming, an entanglement of anxiety and perplexity. This is how London feels to me now. The excitement of the lights and the noise can sometimes leave you pondering the meaning of it all.
I am constantly astounded by the vibrancy, community and creativity that surrounds me every day. At the same time, the corruption in our society is inescapable. The letter now is a reminder to be cautious of going too fast and missing the important things.
Dottie, deary
deary – “Fairground” @ Bandcamp
And as an introduction to the band, the bio adds:
Dottie came together with multi-instrumentalist bandmate Ben during lockdown in early 2021 and they bonded over a mutual love of Elizabeth Fraser, among other things.
deary – “Fairground” @ Bandcamp
“We started off by sharing ideas and influences over WhatsApp,” explains Ben. “That led to us writing together and we eventually met up a few months later. We have been working ever since, building up a beautiful friendship in the process.”
Early days, certainly, but a great start.
