Quang Dinh is a prolific guy. Following the unfortunate end of indie-rockers Little Red he continued to tinker away at his craft with new band Naked Bodies, as well as his more care to the wind sounding solo project QD. While Naked Bodies maintained an edgy darkness to their sound on their debut album Piranha, QD takes that darkness and shoves it up it’s own ass. It’s something that is striking on his second solo EP Deja Voodoo.
Quang Dinh is a creative force that can’t be stopped. Be drawn into his brilliant post-breakup storm on his sophomore EP Deja Voodoo.
If you find yourself asking “Wait, wasn’t he just about to release his debut EP not too long ago?”, don’t worry astute reader, you’re not wrong. The last time we touched base with QD he was preparing to release his debut four-track, a creative outlet for him while Naked Bodies were taking quick break to recharge their creative batteries. That wasn’t the case for their frontman, the Energiser Bunny reincarnate he pumped out Wiseman Beggar Yellow Hobo about a month ago, and now he has turned around his second Deja Voodoo faster than Batman applies his eye liner.
Dinh isn’t the type to sit around, and chose to push himself creatively with this EP. As he says “The process for Deja Voodoo was the same as the last. Firstly, book a launch for an EP that doesn’t exist. Finally, bring the EP into existence. This is the second time I’ve undergone this particular process and I am enjoying spontaneously recording things, writing lyrics quickly, improvising vocals and being in the creative flow of it.
Deja Voodoo was written, recorded, manufactured in my bedroom in one month. I am attempting to push myself into a zone where I constantly make things and have no time for self-doubt, over analysis or creative stagnancy”
The EP was written in the wake of a breakup, the emotional maelstrom it brewed becoming the driving force for Dinh. As he says “We lived together in a house in the suburbs away from it all. We had a garden, a dog, a quarter acre and some bad habits“. That isn’t to say that the EP is a sorrowful affair. It’s a diverse mix of songs, and despite only being a four-track, he manages to capture a lot of the complicated feels to create a a solid picture of where Dinh’s emotional state is.
Whether it be the raucous howls and guitars of The Current or the sombre, husky vocals of The Little Things that meander on the inconsequential what if’s with a sorrowful harmonica in the back seat, Deja Voodoo is an EP that capably navigates the stormy waters of a break up. Raw, relatable and unforgiving, QD has nailed it once again.
You can listen to the EP above, or if you purchase the physical copy you’ll also receive a 12 page zine containing lyrics, poems and stories written by Dinh, which would be well worth checking out.
