DIIV

Frog In Boiling Water (Fantasy)

Five years after the release of Deceiver, the musical landscape must look very different to New York’s Diiv: where once they were largely lonesome flyers of the shoegaze flag, the genre is now enjoying a global resurgence. This is a double-edged sword: on the one hand, their return could be greeted rapturously, as architects of the revival; on the other, they may have a harder time reclaiming their throne.

Born of intra-band turmoil and tension, Frog In Boiling Water directs its gaze not footwards but out at a fractured late-capitalist world without breaking decisively with Diiv’s sonic traditions. This sort of music – smudged guitars, stoned vocals – can easily become listless and unengaging, but they remain among the best to do it. Even then, the LP’s best moments come on Brown Paper Bag and Reflected when they turn up the heat from a gentle simmer and allow the guitar tone from Smashing Pumpkins’ Siamese Dream to gatecrash the party.

words BEN WOOLHEAD