DIANA - Perpetual Surrender

Diana are a Canadian quartet based in Toronto, and on this debut, "Perpetual Surrender", they deliver a chamber-pop sound with unmistakable 80s retro-leanings. Everything here, from the hazy synths to the soft female vocals, from the muffled drum sounds to the saxophone solos, transports us back in time to the glossy Eighties, paying tribute to a whole decade even before any specific genre.

The band was founded by Joseph Shabason, who already played saxophone on Kaputt, the excellent album by Destroyer, together with members of Hidden Cameras and Carmen Elle, the female half of the duo Army Girls.

Eight tracks unfold at a controlled pace, with stretched-out melodies echoing Cocteau Twins and Roxy Music, making for an album that turns out far less dancey than the early signs suggested, following the release of the single "Born Again". The themes running through this ongoing surrender are the usual ones, love and nostalgia (“We were blind to all the ways/ we sat and watched it fade away/ so let it be/ let it go”, sings Carmen Elle on "That Feeling"), finding release in genuine moments of musical indulgence - the closing guitar of the opener "Foreign Installation", or the soft swaying saxophone of the title track.

The pairing of "Anna" and "Born Again" is the most dance-oriented: the former expands over beds of synths, before imploding into a darker, more psychedelic middle section and then seeing the light again thanks to the relentless beat of the drum machine. The latter stands as the high point of this record: a continuous crescendo, hazy opening synths, a bassline stripped down to the essentials, shimmering drum machine effects and a closing saxophone solo that make the track truly unforgettable.

In the end, "Perpetual Surrender" proves to be a well-crafted record, with a fitting balance between dreamy tracks and pop moments, and special credit goes to Carmen Elle's outstanding performance. It's a shame it fades out completely after "Born Again", failing to give an effective conclusion to the journey it set out on.

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23/10/2013