The lineup for this year’s Great Escape Festival has been completed. The bill has swelled to a massive four hundred acts who will take over Brighton for a few short days in early May, and while many Alt Escape bands remain TBA, along with the as of yet unconfirmed day splits for many of the performing artists, but everything is beginning to come together for the fast-approaching event. Amongst the new additions were duo the Diamond Age, who will be making the short trip along the coast from Southampton to appear at the festival. While it’s early days for the pair who have only been active since late last year, initial signs are promising with vibrant dream pop a recipe for success for an act who have wasted no time in finding their niche.
‘I Just Might Be’ is a heady affair, with both members sharing vocal duties as the lyrics echo across a haze of sun-soaked instrumentals. For a track released at the height of a rainy winter, it doesn’t have any difficulty in conjuring up images of coastal summers (the dry ones, at least), instead acting as a statement of just how transportative the sound is of pair whose music is made for festival season. The one criticism that can be made of ‘I Just Might Be’ is that it ends too soon; the two and a half minutes allotted could easily be extended into three or four. It will undoubtedly be a non-issue in time, when the duo’s back catalogue has expanded considerably, but right now what’s on offer is incredibly limited in terms of quantity and it might be a little longer yet until you can be truly confident that The Diamond Age have what it takes to succeed.
‘Andrew’s An Android’ doesn’t suffer from as stringent time constraints, and as expected it benefits the track remarkably. Though competition is slim at this early stage the song’s playful lyrics are the band’s most enjoyable so far, and warrant repeat listens on their own. Whether its Canning’s deceivingly upbeat remarking that “nothing says fuck you like an empty Christmas card” or the track’s chorus – definitely one built from the ground up for mass crowd participation in a live setting. This is true for most of the pair’s music thus far; it’s blissful, intoxicating and so hard to avoid getting swept up in. ‘Yesterday Was’ provides a few more cheery minutes of jangling guitar and reverberating vocals capable of dispelling any internal clouding whenever you may need your head cleared quickly. A far cry from previous spotlit bands Beard of Wolves or HSY, but just as easy to recommend whether you’re Brighton-bound this May or not.
By the time May does roll around, you’ll be hoping that the duo have another couple of releases under their belt. Regardless of the currently (understandably) minimal back catalogue however, it is easy to agree with the band’s existing praise-singers. After their first festival season together this year, it is a safe bet that they will have many more sources of acclaim. All’s well that starts well, and The Diamond Age are off to a flier so far.
Useful Links: Facebook / Twitter / Soundcloud
7bitarcade - Archive 