London band deary released their debut single, “Fairground,” back in January 2023, which immediately dropped a pin on where they stood on the shoegaze map. They have a clear affinity for the time, around 1990, when the original UK shoegazers and the rave/Madchester crowd were at the same party. (Examples from back in the day: My Bloody Valentine’s “Soon,” Chapterhouse’s “Mesmerize” and Primal Scream’s “Higher Than the Sun.”) The band have since reeleased a few more singles and an EP, all via UK label Sonic Cathedral, but their brand new song may be their best yet.
“The Moth” lays down the beat first, a syncopated groove right out of Stetsasonic’s “Talking All That Jazz,” and then comes Ben Easton’s gauzy washes of guitar and Dottie Cockram’s ethereal vocals. It’s bliss. For extra OG bonafides, the song was recorded at 4AD studios in London and (former Cocteau Twins bassist) Simon Raymonde’s Bella Union Studios in Brighton and was mastered by Slowdive’s Simon Scott.
“We focused a lot on the rhythm and syncopation,” says Easton on the song. “It’s very dense and immediate, with little room to breathe which adds to the claustrophobia in the subject matter.” Dottie adds, “I wanted to write about being drawn to things which are not good for us. However, that fleeting feeling of immortality is too tempting to fly away from.”
Watch the video for “The Moth” below.
“The Moth” is available physically as a limited edition flexidisc which has already sold out. Let’s hope this is the first taste of deary’s debut album.