Head-splitting energetic band DIAL has recently dropped their single Pink and Blue, giving us a taste of ’70s nostalgia.
Coming together in 2021, Brisbane-based DIAL consists of two blues enthusiasts who linked their passions with two shoegaze lovers to form colossal, texture-laden guitar sounds. Welding themselves into the Brisbane alt scene, their live performances amplify their head-splitting energetic essence. DIAL’s sound is right up your alley if you’re all over the booming sounds of Spacemen 3, The Verve, The Brian Jonestown Massacre and RIDE.
Their music elevates listeners, sending them into a new dimension filled with their relentless ethereal sounds, built on the rock and roll appreciation over which the group bonded. The band fiercely exhibits ‘70s hippie culture with a twist of shoegaze through their sound and visuality as they strip elements of blues, psychedelia and shoegaze.
The majority of Pink and Blue was recorded in a basement that the band converted into a studio. The “studio” is located on a hippy commune near Samford. The track was written by the members of DIAL (Matthew Leo, Hugh Daly, Elijah David, Robert Thornton) and produced and engineered by Zane Nichol, Nick Ashby of Rage Records & Elijah David.
The track begins as a fearless awakening through its mysterious yet whimsical guitar reverb and creates a visceral snapshot of nostalgia. The tranquillizing and potent vocals intertwine with the dreamy swirly sounds of the rustic guitar and crispy percussion. It’s a brewing soundscape that peels elements from various genres and artists and morphs these sounds into their own. The track will have you revelling in bashing drums and lush dazzling guitar twangs that glisten with desires of wondrous places, spaces and mindsets. The solo and bridge concoct a relentless fusion of elasticity through riffling riffs that sweep you off your feet. Brainwaves fling around through marinated harmonies and erupting poetic abstract lyrics and soaring vocals.
The music video is splashed with a hazy nostalgic ‘70s colour grade that immediately creates an atmosphere of free expression, introspection and altered mindsets. It was shot and directed by Linus Marsh, and was shot in multiple locations around the Brisbane suburb Spring Hill including DIAL’S own living room.
Beginning with intimate, quick-paced close-ups of movements of swirling twirls, lighting candles and playing with a metal slinky, expressionism is cemented immediately. Throughout the music video, camera angles, zooms, close-ups and wide shots utilize the feelings of intimacy, connection and space. The rest of the music video conveys a Beatle-esque expedition through the long-haired, authentically placid and gauche faces of the band. It jumps from shots of the guys on the street with the guitarist peacefully strumming as cars pass and shots move from each member.
Single frame shots of the band snap them in a green sanctuary and accompany the spacey sounds as they pass the time through introspection. If that doesn’t yell ’70s, the records and instruments sprawled on the wooden floor with the band dabbling with riffs on the guitar sure scream it. These quick shots of the band are contrasted by rapid sequences of neon lights, fuzzy sounds and the distorted dark hazy atmosphere of the band playing together. The pink and blue colours bounce off the walls and the faces of these expeditioners as they venture through this technicolour dream.
Brimming with style, the grit of DIAL is refreshing to listen to as they search for answers through their sound. Check out the track below and ride with DIAL on their level.
Album art by Fin Wilson.
Photography by Linus Marsh and Fin Wilson.
