Shimmering psychedelic rock trio Dirty Sound Magnet have shared their new single ‘Lonely Bird’, the third from their upcoming fourth LP, Dreaming In Dystopia (20th October, Wild Thing Records).
Watch the stop-motion video for ‘Lonely Bird’ below.
In the words of the band, everything in the music video “is handmade and done 100% DIY over the course of three months.” Although demanding a painstaking production process, from crocheting the puppets, scenery, and props, to actually animating each and every frame, the result is an utterly spellbinding visual treat that keeps the track’s fantastical symbolism faithfully intact.
As Dirty Sound Magnet, longtime friends and band members Stavros Dzodzos (guitar, vocals), Marco Mottolini (bass, backing vocals), and Maxime Cosandey (drums, backing vocals) have developed a reputation as one of Europe’s hardest working bands, releasing four records (one live and three studio albums) and performing over 650 mesmerising live shows throughout Europe, UK, and Mexico since their inception in 2016.
The band have recently announced new UK dates, as following:
Even with the onset of a global pandemic, Dirty Sound Magnet remained steadfast on maintaining their reputation of tireless artistic output, going as far as to work on two records simultaneously. One of those was 2022’s DSM III, which the band cites as a means to “release their wild energy during lockdown”.
The other album is what eventually became the upcoming Dreaming In Dystopia, with each of its tracks connected by a common thread of being showcases of Dirty Sound Magnet‘s most deeply emotional and personal examples of songcraft and lyrics to date.
The band worked closely in the rehearsal room and started producing this next, more expansive album right after the completion of DSM-III. One of the first songs recorded during this approximately two-year process was this latest single, ‘Lonely Bird’, whose concoction of psychedelic, folk, and progressive rock textures would eventually provide the thematic and stylistic blueprint for the album as a whole.
“All of our previous albums have tender moments but the band is known for its high energy and explosiveness,” says Stavros Dzodzos. “We always loved rock bands that were able to produce albums where the focus was on the songwriting and the emotion rather than on the energy. Think albums like Rubber Soul, Stand Up, Led Zeppelin III, or Strange Days. These are the types of records that were always close to not only my heart but for the rest of the band’s as well.”
Through and through, ‘Lonely Bird’ plays the part of a proper prog ballad, framing the breakup narrative at its core around the symbolism of two birds parting ways and changing of the seasons.
This instillation of metaphor imparts the track with greater thematic nuance, with its nature-related analogy allowing for Dirty Sound Magnet to explore this subject matter across a whole spectrum of emotions, depicted in the dreamy twang of reverb-washed guitars, swells of proggy keys accentuating the track’s most harmonious moments and Dzodzos‘ yearnful vocals that serve as the emotional anchor of ‘Lonely Bird’.
Dzodzos explains: “I think that a rock band needs some maturity to explore more intimate feelings and atmospheres, but you also need some maturity as a human being to be able to express feelings authentically. With the three of us having been performing, writing, and recording music together for as long as we have, being able to convey these elements on Dreaming In Dystopia as a whole came very naturally to us, with ‘Lonely Bird’ being a key milestone in the creative process.
From then on out, we knew we were working on the album we have always dreamed of making.
Dreaming In Dystopia is Dirty Sound Magnet‘s fourth LP, and arrives as the band continue to establish themselves as one of the most exciting acts to emerge from Switzerland this century.
Since its founding in 2016, Dirty Sound Magnet have released three studio recordings, each melding the sounds of rock’s golden age with the genre-agnostic experimentalism of today.
In their time, the trio of Stavros Dzodzos (guitars, lead vocals), Marco Mottolini (bass, backing vocals), and Maxime Cosandey (drums, backing vocals, special effects) have already performed over 650 shows throughout Europe, the UK, and Mexico.
Thanks in part to this tireless work ethic and becoming known internationally for their mesmerizing live shows, Dirty Sound Magnet have, in just this short period of time, taken home the 2022 Swiss Live Talents award for ‘Best Swiss Rock Band’ and performed as support for various rock heavyweights including Wolfmother (AU), Rival Sons (US), and Monster Magnet (US).
While 2023’s Dreaming In Dystopia sits as Dirty Sound Magnet‘s most wonderfully expansive release to date, it also represents the most introspective chapter in the band’s story so far.
The album sees the trio explore how, despite the chaotic nature of the world we live in, certain things like the profound power of music and self-expression remain constant. It’s reflective in a way that allows Dirty Sound Magnet to not only express and iterate on their ever-evolving flavour of psychedelic rock but also puts into perspective just how far the trio has come as musicians and performers.
Track-list:
01. Melodies from Distant Shores (4:19)
02. Dreaming in Dystopia (3:42)
03. The Tragedy of Men (3:37)
04. Lonely Bird (3:59)
05. Utopia (4:28)
06. Flowers, Angels and Chaos (4:37)
07. Lost My Mind (3:39)
08. Insomnia (8:25)
Switzerland’s Dirty Sound Magnet are an unstoppable, unbreakable force of rock. The uniqueness of their mesmerizing music and kinetic live performances has won audiences the world over. Their show is unpredictable; shamanic stage presence, rock star charisma, instrumental prowess, poetic vocals, tantalizing dynamics.
As teenagers hailing from Fribourg, Stavros Dzodzos (guitar, vocals), Marco Mottolini (bass, backing vocals), and Maxime Cosandey (drums, backing vocals) devoured hundreds of albums, while rehearsing with great intensity.
Their passion rapidly turned into an addiction and total dedication to their art, crafting a sound that has been likened to a fusion of Led Zeppelin‘s energy and instrumental virtuosity, Iggy Pop‘s raw energy, and The Doors‘ mysticism, additionally imbued with modern psych influences of bands like Tame Impala and King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard.
This stylistic pedigree, along with thought-provoking lyrics reflecting contemporary social turmoil, Dirty Sound Magnet have created their own distinct musical formula.
In only a few short years since the band’s formation, Dirty Sound Magnet swiftly established themselves within Europe’s burgeoning psychedelic rock scene, extensively touring the continent throughout 2017 to 2020. Since the release of the band’s third and most successful studio album DSM-III, Dirty Sound Magnet have performed over 130 shows, including sold-out tours in the UK, Germany, and Mexico, won the Swiss Live Talents award for ‘Best Swiss Rock Band’ for the second time, previously taking it home for the band’s 2017 debut album, Western Lies.
Dirty Sound Magnet‘s music is in a constant state of evolution, and their upcoming record, Dreaming In Dystopia, due on October 20, 2023, via Australian label Wild Thing Records, is a testament to their artistic progression.
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