The new Dianogah is a different beast. “We all bought a distortion pedal,” McCabe explains. Ryan adds, “To name names, we all got into Meshuggah a lot. I finally got around to discovering the Melvins and listened to them a lot, which is really late in the game. Our musical tastes have continued to develop and have tended towards some heavier stuff.” Which isn’t to say that Dianogah have gone metal. But on several new songs, there is a rock-oriented, often noisy approach only vaguely hinted at on previous albums.
On the other hand, several new tracks rank with the most beautiful work they have made. Chicago violinist Andrew Bird appears on four new songs, adding subtle counterpoint to the most direct and intensely melodic songs of Dianogah’s intensely melodic career. “A year or two ago, he came and played a show with us and just played on some older songs,” says Harvey. “He reinterpreted guitar parts or keyboard parts and did them on the violin in his own way. We were all floored by what he had done, just really excited, and agreed that we have got to get him, if he’ll do it, on the new record. So we gave him a tape of everything,and he picked the ones that he wanted to write stuff for.”
The whole point of this was to have fun, and the fact that anyone would come to see us play, the fact that anyone would still put out our record is great because it’s just our fun thing to do. Now, every Tom, Dick, and Harry band has a booking agent, a PR guy, a label, a manager.
The high point of this collaboration might be “A Breaks B,” which not only features Bird’s poignant string work, but also a vocal duet between Jay Ryan and Pawner’s Society singer Stephanie Morris. Millions Of Brazilians was the first Dianogah album to feature no vocals at all, and on prior albums As Seen From Above and Battle Champions, vocals were already scarce. On the new album, Dianogah have brought singing to more songs than ever before. McCabe says, “We’re a bit challenged tonally in that we have two basses and drums, and there’s a lot of room. One of the things that interested me about adding a female vocalist was the tone.” Indeed, Morris adds a distinctive character to several songs in the same way Bird’s violin enhances others. “Stephanie has just a really genuine, ego-free unaffected voice that’s quite beautiful and also super subtle. I think that they’re the vocals that a band like us need. They’re very timid, almost like an instrument.”
It all adds up to what may be one of the most exciting, diverse, and satisfying albums of the coming year. “I think collectively, we can say that we think it is our best record,” says Harvey. “I know every band that puts out a new record probably says that.” Dianogah have made several worthy albums—now they are preparing to release a potential Chicago classic.
“On the last couple records, we would end up having songs for the record, and not songs for shows. So we wanted more songs for shows that were fun for us to play. ‘Qhnnl’ and ‘You Might Go Off,’ which are songs we’ve been playing for years, are some of our favorite songs to play live because they’re fast and loud,” says Harvey. “You Might Go Off” may be the key to the new record’s code. It is beautiful in its simplicity and quintessentially Dianogah in its swirling melodicism, yet it is the most punk-oriented song they have written. For the rousing finale, the whole group shouts, “This is how we fight!”
-Mike McGovern
Dianogah: www.dianogah.com
Southern Records: www.southern.com
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