Dyan‘s breakthrough hit ‘Looking for Knives’ remains a popular pick on the stereo at Walrus Towers even after a couple of years, and so I was excited to hear the news that the US trio had a new EP coming soon – the first single of which we have today.
‘Absence’ sees the band take a different direction, away from the electronics towards a hazy lullaby about new beginnings opening up. Its soft guitars and warm harmonies hint at the sunlight of moving on with a smoky saxophone awaiting you on the other side.
The band’s Alexis Marsh explains: “Absence is about leaving, but not before inquiring about doubt. It could be about being in love with a person whose loyalty is to someone or something else, realizing it, and then you move on. Or holding on to what you want to hold on to, even if it’s painful. But maybe you’re the person so sure of their belief in an idea, and you feel that splinter or crumble. There is freedom in finding the idea we have of ourselves has altered: I loved this person/thing, and now I may not; I was this person, and now I am not. My changing is not a tragedy. I just have to be ready, to be sure, and then to name it.”
Photograph by Anastasia Velicescu
