It’s a cold and snowy Birmingham that awaits deary on the second date of their first headline tour. RESOUND headed to the legendary Hare & Hounds to catch them.
Heading out on your own nationwide tour for the first time must be an exciting but daunting prospect. Doing it in a week when Mother Nature suddenly decides winter should arrive will do little to settle any nerves, but such is the quiet buzz that London shoegazers deary have created over the past two years since emerging on the Sonic Cathedral label, that it’s already a busy room that awaits as support act Hongza takes the stage.
The solo project of Sam Hong, but aided and abetted live by bass and drums, it’s clear from the off as Hongza launch into opener Cure Me that those who’ve braved the cold to arrive early are in for a treat. Whipping up a heady concoction of dream pop, grunge and indie that taps into the territory that DIIV explore so well, Hong is a charismatic front man prowling the stage whilst wrestling the seven song set from within his Fender Jazzmaster. Drawing lyrically on his frustrations with modern life and the challenges of racism, it is a cathartic set which will have left many wondering how this band isn’t bigger. Hongza are definitely one to track down if you haven’t already.
With the recent release by deary of their second EP Aurelia (covered in depth in the recent RESOUND interview https://re-sound.co.uk/interview-deary/), now feels the perfect time for them to be hitting the road in their own right. Having paid their dues and honed their craft in support of others, including the likes of Slowdive, Cranes and Flyying Colours, the opportunity to take the limelight seems to be one that they relish. Playing live as a four-piece, the main duo of vocalist/guitarist Dottie and fellow guitarist Ben augmented by now long standing bassist Havni and more recent drummer Harry, it’s clear that having taken their time to get to this point has paid off and it’s with confidence that they launch into Heaven the opener from the debut EP swiftly followed by Aurelia from the EP of the same name. Dimly lit in a compact space, the subtleties of the songs come to the fore with the gossamer guitar from Ben entwining with Dottie’s vocals to glorious effect throughout over the precise foundations laid down by the rhythm section.
With only two EPs to pick from, it’s no surprise that the setlist includes eleven of the twelve songs from these, but with care taken to balance out the new amidst the older songs. It definitely feels that the band have grown as songwriters between the two records, carving their own niche and identity within the shoegaze genre, highlighted in particular by the excellent The Drift. With great washes of sound that envelope the room, this is Shoegaze at it’s peak and it makes it exciting to see what they may come up with when they finally get around to making that debut LP.
The introduction of the last song with thanks for such a warm welcome for their first visit to Birmingham comes around way too soon. Thankfully, Beauty In All Blue Satin is a song that any band would be grateful to have as their set closer and it’s a happy band that leave the stage to attend to a fast forming queue for the merch – a fellow gig-goer comments that he never usually queues to get records signed at gigs but for deary he had a hunch it’d be a shrewd move long term. He may well be very right.
Words and pictures : Geoff Shaw @gsmusicphotos