imPRESSED
Dizzy Spells Dives into Their Unconventional Indie-Pop Record and New Single, “Night Owl”
The LA-based duo, Dizzy Spells is getting ready to release their debut album, but first, they are teasing fans with the new single “Night Owl.” “Night Owl” encapsulates Dizzy Spells’ ability to stretch between indie-pop hooks and their love of sound collaging, recalling the sugary extremes of Yeasayer and Dirty Projectors.
With a penchant for unconventional indie-pop and an atmosphere of brotherly love surrounding them, Dizzy Spells is the amalgam of multi-instrumentalists Taylor Stover and Brayden Deskins, bound together by a weird sense of humour, the occasional Lagavulin, and deep camaraderie. Their debut album, A Fearful Leap Into The Dark (set for release in November), perfectly showcases their unique sound and musical compositions.
We sat down with the duo to dive deeper into the new single and uncover more details about the upcoming album.
What’s the inspiration behind “Night Owl?”
“At the time of writing the chords to ‘Night Owl,’ a friend of mine was going through a period in her life where she had a lot of uncertainty about where she wanted to be and who she wanted to be. The line ‘every second, every minute dry’ sort of just sprang to mind, and I based the rest of the lyrics around that; the concept of time feeling meaningless and empty, contextualized by my friend’s internal crisis!”
What’s your favourite lyrical line in the track? Why?
“It’s cheesy, but my friend has a really toothy grin. The line, ‘it’s something in the way you smile/you lazy river crocodile’ has always been my favourite. Every time I hear it, I think of her and it’s always funny to liken your friends to animals… and then put it on blast in a song.”
Tell us about your new album coming out soon!
“We have an eight-song album coming out by the end of 2020, produced by our buddies The Fund, who are a production trio based in Sound City Studios. We worked for months with them, honing down something like 20 demos to these eight. Really excited to finally get these out!”
What’s your favourite track from the album and why?
“We’re all big fans of ‘Ohhh No!’ We think it was the riskiest song we’ve ever made, but we think it paid off! We really enjoy incorporating samples and found sounds into our music, but this was the first time where it felt super cohesive. Definitely the most original song we’ve ever written.”
What was the inspiration/story behind creating the album?
“As lame of an answer as it is, there really wasn’t much of a story behind creating this album! It was mostly a bunch of songs we’ve written over a couple of years that we felt cohesive enough to put together, and whittled them down to the real thing. Quite a lot of these songs deal with anxiety though, and that was certainly a common thread throughout the album: managing anxiety and coming to terms with your uncertainties.”
Take us into your creative process. What is recording an album like for you guys?
“Typically, in the past, we’d write songs at our house (we all lived together) and either record them ourselves or take them to a studio. This is the first album where we’ve worked this closely with producers; The Fund was with us every step of the way, and the studio became our playground, especially since, at the beginning of recording, we hadn’t dialed in our sound quite yet. We would constantly throw around ideas and even write new parts in the studio moments before tracking. It was very touch-and-go for some of these songs, and it made recording super spontaneous which was a nice change of pace for us!”
How would you describe your sound to people who have never heard it before?
“Ok, so you know how when you hear music in your dreams, it doesn’t sound like actual music? It’s like some warped, wrong thing that only makes sense when you’re immersed in it? And you only realize it was weird and terrifying when you snap out of it? But like it was sort of cool? That. That’s what we probably sound like.”
Who are some of your musical influences you draw inspiration from?
“For all of us, Dirty Projectors, The Dear Hunter, Bon Iver, Joanna Newsom, Glass Animals, Big Thief, and Sufjan Stevens are huge musical and lyrical inspirations for us. Basically, the hipster starter pack, but no shame!”
What can fans expect next from you?
“A whole lot more music by the end of this year and in 2021, plus a bunch of new content in general. We’re mostly just excited for you to hear this album later this year; it’s been years in the making!”
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