Diving Station – Feather Mouth EP

Anna McLuckie and Diving Station match musical ingenuity with impressive songwriting on their new EP, Feather Mouth

Album Review by Cheri Amour | 30 Nov 2018
Album title: Feather Mouth EP
Artist: Diving Station
Label: Self-released
Release date: 3 Dec

The orchestral exploration of an act is normally reserved for the veterans of the music scene. A right of passage that might come in the experimental, freewheeling portion of their career after all the 'big hits'. Think Björk’s Stateside dates last year with the fabled LA Philharmonic or Thom Yorke’s recent announcement of his first film score. So Manchester four-piece Diving Station, who champion harp-driven dream pop, are streaks ahead when it comes to ingenuity.

They’re prolific in their songwriting too it turns out. Having only released debut Alice last year, latest EP Feather Mouth builds on those blissful strings, but as harpist and vocalist Anna McLuckie admits, with "a slightly gutsier, darker" finish. Taking Tongues explores the blindness of love and self-preservation in a relationship, rather than melding into one nausea-inducing couplet: 'Don’t lose yourself in someone else... / My hand's my own but held in yours.' Tour Guide is humble and hopeful, looking for real connections rather than online realities as we hear McLuckie’s plea to 'See through eyes and not cameras.' In fact, it’s often this cleverly crafted lyricism that lifts these songs beyond the classical whimsy. In the same track, we hear her ask 'Please don’t leave me making small talk with girls who only talk about their lovers,' perfectly summing up all those awkward parties where you’ve inexplicably ended up in a conversation you’re desperate to leave. 

The standout is certainly recent single You’re Not Listening, with its warm vibrato guitars and wandering basslines. McLuckie’s vocals deserve a special mention; thick and perfectly enunciated, she scales the depths and soars back with added support from drummer Barnabas Kimberley. It’s the perfect synchronicity. All musicians within the Northern scene in their own right, Diving Station feels like the perfect launch pad into new territories and explorative fields for this foursome.

And there’s no point waiting around for their golden years for that moment, this bunch is already in their heyday.

Listen to: You’re Not Listening, Taking Tongues

https://divingstationmusic.bandcamp.com/