"Sometimes one of the best parts of going to a show is discovering an opening band that’s actually worth getting there a little bit earlier. When I went to see Active Child a few weeks ago, I’m glad I listened to I am Dive, if only a little, before heading out, because otherwise I might have missed out. If you read that live review, you would have noticed that, though originally a duo, only singer/guitarist Estéban Sánchez was able to make it, to perform an acoustic set. And while there was nothing wrong with the set, there wasn’t anything really that jumped out at me either. Knowing better, though, I approached him after the show, and here I am now.
Both Estéban and his partner, José A. Pérez, are from Seville, Spain, but you probably wouldn’t be able to guess, as all of their material is sung in English, and, unlike many other bands from there their accents are more than intelligible. They’ve been together since mid 2010, and have been quite prolific since.
At the show, I am Dive performed mostly material from their latest EP, “Constellations”, released in November of last year. At the core, the songs are not too different from the ones I experienced live, but what makes them standout is the added instrumentation the band use. There’s a great contrast on songs like “I Was Sad So I Was Dancing”, in which the harsh beat disrupts the atmosphere created by the guitar, the vocals and the dreamy synths. The song, which happens to open the EP is one of the band’s finest efforts, and I hear clear traces of other psychedelic folk artists like José González.
“A Morning Walk”, the second track on that same effort, is perhaps the duo’s most “synthetic” song, only in the sense that there’s barely a trace of the guitar that characterizes most of the rest of their material. The song is equally as dreamy, and it’s easy to get washed away in the layers of reverb-slathered synths.
I am Dive actually put out three EP’s last year, though. The first was “Fall ep”, which featured a much more lo-fi recording quality and overall relied a lot less on the atmospheric synths. The closing track, “From A Hidden Tree”, is one of the few tracks devoid of guitars on “Fall ep”and features layered vocals, something the band hasn’t really done much with, but that I’d be interested to hear more of. As a whole it’s got a very light-shoegaze-y sound, very ambient, and with some noises towards the end.
Inbetween “Fall ep” and “Constellations” the pair put out “I am Dive Wish Death To Everyone”, which, despite having the longest name by far is actually the shortest material-wise, with only two songs. “The Ghost In The Funeral Spark”, the second of the two is also one of the band’s best efforts, and in classic I am Dive fashion, does an excellent job of mixing ambient sounds with acoustic singer-songwriter material.
This month the Spanish duo will actually release their first full-length, titled “Ghostwoods”. So far not much is known, so we’ll have to wait to see how the band are able to fledge out the ideas they’ve had in short form over the course of a full album.
Below you can listen to a few select tracks, and you can stream and download (mostly for free) the rest of their material from their Bandcamp" (listenbeforeyoubuy.net)
Both Estéban and his partner, José A. Pérez, are from Seville, Spain, but you probably wouldn’t be able to guess, as all of their material is sung in English, and, unlike many other bands from there their accents are more than intelligible. They’ve been together since mid 2010, and have been quite prolific since.
At the show, I am Dive performed mostly material from their latest EP, “Constellations”, released in November of last year. At the core, the songs are not too different from the ones I experienced live, but what makes them standout is the added instrumentation the band use. There’s a great contrast on songs like “I Was Sad So I Was Dancing”, in which the harsh beat disrupts the atmosphere created by the guitar, the vocals and the dreamy synths. The song, which happens to open the EP is one of the band’s finest efforts, and I hear clear traces of other psychedelic folk artists like José González.
“A Morning Walk”, the second track on that same effort, is perhaps the duo’s most “synthetic” song, only in the sense that there’s barely a trace of the guitar that characterizes most of the rest of their material. The song is equally as dreamy, and it’s easy to get washed away in the layers of reverb-slathered synths.
I am Dive actually put out three EP’s last year, though. The first was “Fall ep”, which featured a much more lo-fi recording quality and overall relied a lot less on the atmospheric synths. The closing track, “From A Hidden Tree”, is one of the few tracks devoid of guitars on “Fall ep”and features layered vocals, something the band hasn’t really done much with, but that I’d be interested to hear more of. As a whole it’s got a very light-shoegaze-y sound, very ambient, and with some noises towards the end.
Inbetween “Fall ep” and “Constellations” the pair put out “I am Dive Wish Death To Everyone”, which, despite having the longest name by far is actually the shortest material-wise, with only two songs. “The Ghost In The Funeral Spark”, the second of the two is also one of the band’s best efforts, and in classic I am Dive fashion, does an excellent job of mixing ambient sounds with acoustic singer-songwriter material.
This month the Spanish duo will actually release their first full-length, titled “Ghostwoods”. So far not much is known, so we’ll have to wait to see how the band are able to fledge out the ideas they’ve had in short form over the course of a full album.
Below you can listen to a few select tracks, and you can stream and download (mostly for free) the rest of their material from their Bandcamp" (listenbeforeyoubuy.net)
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