Album Premiere: Buddie — ‘Diving’
Posted: by The Editor
Photo by Ashley Cordoba
Originally conceived as a solo project for Philadelphia songwriter Dan Forrest, Buddie slowly transformed into a full band over the years, rounding out the lineup with vocalist/guitarist Danielle Farley, bassist Brian Thomas, and drummer David Dean. Back in January of last year, the band released their debut EP Change of Scenery, a brief but infectious collection of fuzzy rock songs that touch on some pretty serious subjects. Buddie takes things another step further on their debut full-length Diving, an album that very literally attempts to reckon with the slow destruction of our planet, a fitting theme for these strange times we’re currently in.
Forrest, who works as an environmental scientist, has a keen understanding of how bad things are, but as a lyricist, he injects his songs with just enough humor and optimism to keep things from ever getting too desolate. Diving also finds Buddie experimenting with their sound in new and exciting ways—”In Aquamarine” springs forward with the elasticity of Built To Spill, which is exactly the kind of song you might expect from the band, but songs like “Boiler” and “Seeker” veer closer towards slacker pop territory, channeling all of that restless energy into some of their catchiest songs to date. On closer “Garden Glow,” Buddie incorporates all of their influences into a slow-burning earworm that gently drifts into the album’s most cathartic moment before being swallowed up by the nothingness surrounding it.
Stream it below:
Diving is out 8/4 via Crafted Sounds. The band is also doing a stream to celebrate the release of the album tomorrow over at WXPN, you can find more info on that here.
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Michael Brooks // @nomichaelbrooks
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