The past 12 years have been quite a journey for Zachary Cole Smith and his band DIIV. Following the success of their dream-pop debut Oshin (2012), a sophomore album was soon halted by Cole's arrest for heroin possession and a stint at Rebab. When they finally emerged, the critically acclaimed Is The Is Are (2016), centred around twinkling guitars and themes of recovery, it was ultimately a false dawn for the frontman (a fact recognised by 2019's aptly titled album Deceiver).
Their last album saw a dramatic shift towards a heavier shoegaze atmosphere, and naturally DIIV followed up five years later with Frog In Boiling Water, doubling down on the darker sound, and dare I say it, their fourth album is darker, more melancholic and more beautiful than its predecessor.
Making the record wasn't without its difficulties. As mentioned, DIIV's record-making process has often been rocky, and their latest album was no exception. After four years of failed recording sessions and bitter disagreements over what their sound should be, relations between the band had hit rock bottom. Drastic action was needed to salvage the project before it surrendered.
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So in June 2023, DIIV—Andrew Bailey, Colin Caulfield, Ben Newman, and Zachary Cole Smith—gathered in Los Angeles' Echo Park to air grievances and repair frayed relationships. And somehow, it worked: This show of honesty brought the band closer together, and allowed them to focus on delivering an album worthy of living up to their previous outstanding works.
Opener “In Amber” gets right to the point, with heavy riffs and distortion that push Smith's cynical lyrics deeper into the mix (“I can't look away / In anger / I wanna disappear,” he sings at the beginning and end of the song). The mood is further strengthened by the sludgy “Brown Paper Bag,” an isolated track that fuses elements of dream pop and post-rock for a surprisingly trance-like state. The music video is also guaranteed to get laughs, with Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst introducing the band (two totally unexpected worlds coming together…) and a mock SNL performance proving that, despite their dark sound, their sense of humor is still intact.
On “Raining On Your Pillow,” DIIV turn the temperature down by swapping tension for intimacy. The third track is underpinned by jangled, Cure-esque riffs and an evocative atmosphere that allows Smith's bleak lyrics to shine through: “There's a river somewhere and I'm the only one who owns it / Look how far I am from here,” he sings on the song's muted chorus.
Later, the haunting “Everyone Out” combines acoustic plucking, synths and layered tape loops to achieve a similarly soft atmosphere reminiscent of the Smashing Pumpkins' early sound, while penultimate track “Soul-Net” again proves their talent for effortlessly crafting emotive soundscapes.
Explaining the album's title, DIIV reveal that their fourth album is “about the slow, morbid and crushingly mundane collapse of late-capitalist society, a brutal reality that we've supposedly accepted as normal.” It's pretty bleak stuff, then. And the themes are bolstered by songs that are sprawling, haunting and rarely overly long; only the hopeful and closer “Fender on the Highway” clocks in at over five minutes.
DIIV may be a long way from the sun-drenched sound of their earlier years, but the despair and dejection expressed on Frog In Boiling Water is captivating, albeit in a very different way, but still immediate. The mood music, which carries the world's burdens, pushes the band into darker, more eerie territory. DIIV have honed their somber atmospheres to create one of the best records you'll hear this year.
9/10
By Matthew McLister
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