** PREMIERE ** Dayflower - 'Neverfriend' / 'Seeing Up'

Words: Linn Branson

Leicester-based quartet Dayflower have been picking up notice since their self-released debut single ‘Heart Shaped Tambourines’ was unveiled firstly back in 2014 , with its floating summer pop synth and jangly guitar sound coming to the ears of BBC Introducing's Dean Jackson, and was selected by Tom Robinson for his BBC6 Introducing Mixtape.

After putting out 'Big Blue' last month,  Dayflower now return with their new single - the first on Edils Recordings - and which is released today. Little Indie premieres here the double A-side 'Neverfriend' / 'Seeing Up' (which will also be available as a free download via Bandcamp).

Like their previous material, the band once again capture their trademark essence of dreamy melodies juxtaposed against woozy synths, lo-fi beats and jangly heavily reverberated guitars. It's really hard to pick a 'favourite' from the two tracks: 'Neverfriend', the more upbeat of the pair, contains a catchy, foot-tapping beat underneath the 'industrial' top coat, while 'Seeing Up' won Little Indie over just on its evocative opening guitar notes, followed by a drum machine kick in.

We asked Dayflower vocalist / guitarist Alex Clemence to guide us through both sides of the single.

NEVERFRIEND



This is us trying to layer nursery rhyme pop, over buzz saw guitars and industrial noise with the kind of reverb you could only ever find in a wind tunnel.

'Neverfriend' began murky. Very murky. It’s been likened it to 'something swimming beneath the surface of the Grand Union Canal. Something that might jump out of the water and f**k you up, or it might just sit there and cry. A sad sea monster that got lost.’ The verse of this audio storm is made up of around 1.5 chords and almost twice as many words. We’ve always tried to challenge ourselves when it comes to writing, as well as the listener. We never make it easy for ourselves but in ‘Neverfriend' we feel we found that blend of melody and chaos that defines our band.

SEEING UP

The first song Dayflower ever worked on. 'Seeing Up' originated as simple guitar line, layered over an electronic beat using a loop pedal. Because the looping process limited us to just a few bars, it has none of the linear complexity of 'Neverfriend'. The whole thing is built on just a handful of chords. A kind of sonic mantra, growing vertically rather than horizontally, with textures layering themselves upon one another seemingly to breaking point.

This was a chance to just absorb ourselves in the studio process and truly experiment with sound. The recording features an assortment of drum machines of different vintages, analogue and digital synths, classical woodwind, guitars that sound like household appliances and . . .  actual household appliances.

Dayflower are: Alex Clemence  - vocals, guitar; David Dhonau  - bass; Chris Merriman - guitar; Simon Bland - drums.

Dayflower play The Cookie, Leicester on September 21 and again on October 6.

More info: FACEBOOK