Based out of New York City, the members of The Dig are no strangers to the workings of the modern music scene. In a seemingly constant state of “record then tour” since their first album in 2010, their hard work has taken this four piece on the road with acts such as The Walkmen, The Antlers, and Portugal. The Man. Now, the release of their latest EP You & I shows a band locking in on sound ready for a bigger stage.
The Dig’s sound walks a line between psych rock and shoegaze, drawing from the spacious sounds of reverb-laden guitar and thick bass, coupled with dreamy synth lines and unobtrusive drumming to create something surprisingly profound.
Not wanting to be the “album a year” kind of band, The Dig instead chose to write and record two EPs throughout the year. Tired Hearts released in June of 2013 was the first; You & I released October 22nd completes the set.
“We wanted to try something a little different from what we usually did. We decided we wanted to write and record an EP, then tour on it then do it again instead of doing a full-length album,“ said vocalist and guitarist David Baldwin.
Together You & I and Tired Hearts would make a decent full-length album containing the same balance between peaks and valleys that Midnight Flowers has. But the decision to split the recordings with a tour and the fresh songwriting gives the two EPs their distinction from each other.
You & I comes across as slightly more mature and refined. Not the maturity that separates adolescence from adulthood, but instead the difference in a year of an aging whiskey.
Working with producer Greg Giorgio at Tarquin Studios in Bridgeport, Connecticut, Baldwin said that this time around the band had more opportunity to work with the songs they had written instrumentally.
“When we record, we’re just trying to capture our best songs. For You & I we had more time to experiment. When we would leave the studio at night, we would go home and really explore our sounds.”
You and I represents an honest step forward for the band in terms of both quality and a sense of where they are headed sonically. Landing more on the psych rock side of their sound, gone are the distortion-driven pop songs and catchy hooks of Midnight Flowers, which are instead replaced with something far more ambitious.
Never ones to slow down, The Dig plans to begin writing and recording a full-length album once they finish their tour but do not want to set any exact dates on it. Until then, You & I is a solid recording from a band music fans looking for something new will enjoy.
