Somewhere between time and space, you’ll find DAAY‘s new EP, Memories of the Future, which lands as both a fascinating collection of tracks, but also a reflection of the new chapter that the band has stepped into. Led by songwriter Alex Barty-King, the London outfit has brought together elements of progressive indie-rock, vivid psychedelia and experimental flourishes. Across this five-track EP, saxophone lines slink through nostalgic synths and rugged guitar lines that create an atmosphere that feels that once alive and present, as well as distant and liminal. Throughout this record, contrasts are brought into sharp focus between refinement, chaos, friction and wonderment. For less confident bands, these big-stroke motifs would be difficult to wield, yet this self-assured quintet does it with ease. With a refreshed lineup and ever-evolving live reputation, we wanted to chat with DAAY to discuss the new EP and what it feels like to be poised on the edge of something thrillingly new. And so, for On The Record, DAAY discusses déjà vu inspiration, reshaping the band, being critical of pop culture, collective creation, and much more.
Congratulations on the release of your new EP, Memories of the Future, a record which seems to straddle both the present moment and an unknown path ahead. How did you land on this somewhat paradoxical concept?
The title was stolen from an unreleased song of ours which I guess we’ll have to rename. I had it in mind for a while and a few things cemented it in as the obvious choice. I had an intense déjà vu experience whilst sitting at the desk with Andy Hughes during recording, staring at the mundane lines of pro tools tracks. It felt like the right title after this as the experience was like some sort of familiar distant memory that wasn’t mine. The line up of the band was slowly changing during and after recording, so it seemed apt to settle on this name. Lastly it encapsulates in words the idea of multi-dimensionality which is something that I feel is increasingly relevant today with the rise of casual psychedelic culture, spirituality, and science & technology.
Was there a challenge in evoking nostalgia for a future yet to unfold?
I’m glad to hear you think this has been achieved. It was the intention and increasingly the overall drive behind my creativity.
There’s a surreal narrative running throughout the five-track EP, so do you identify yourself with the pop culture-obsessed alien protagonists?
In the sense that I long for something that I don’t see anywhere in this world, yes. But it’s a wider comment on how overall pop culture in the broadest sense seems to alienate and divide people more than it does care for the audience it serves. I see it as a distraction from what truly matters. So this is reflected in the alien protagonists story I guess.
Turning more towards your sound, how did you land on the intoxicating mix between psychedelic pop, progressive indie-rock and more experimental flourishes?
Your choice of word intoxicating is most kind. There is a constant striving to create something that sits in the cracks inbetween. It’s also a product of the musicians on this album and the way in which they interpreted the songs that came to them in skeletal form. They were all pre-written songs on acoustic guitar, except for Live Out Your Lonely Life which was born out of a riff that caught our attention and subsequently our drummer at the time Max went to town on the drums. The aim has always been to create something that is hard to place so I’m always on the look out for how to shift the sound into this liminal space.
Have the band’s jazz and punk sensibilities come from particular members or is it more of a collective chemistry?
I’ve always been drawn to finding members who vary in styles to accentuate the intention of an eclectic sound. So this worked well here and was a major contributor to the energy of the album. Throwing in elements of jazz and punk into pop rock feels like the most exciting ingredients to work with overall. Working with synth sounds is also a massive part of it and something that will grow to have a bigger part.
What instruments, production choices or compositional tricks were essential to creating that retro-meets-futuristic style?
There are endless esoteric technical ways to achieve a spiralling potential of desired options, and I don’t know enough about sound production to know all the tricks but for now I know enough to get what I want with the limited budget I have. I enjoy experimenting with the soundscape, as it pushes the listening experience into a surreal world, and artists like Depeche Mode and Nine Inch Nails are really good at doing this. I always feel like I’m on another planet when I hear them bouncing away in the background as various shapes and colours. For now the simple contrast of big sax lines against synth/guitar rock is working well and something we will keep exploring. For my ears the sound of the saxophone is so nostalgic and can easily slip into a cheesy sounding ballad which is something I try to avoid. Gerry Rafferty is a hero of mine but I don’t want to emulate Baker Street. I like intentionally inverting it so it sounds harsh and aggressive. It adds so much colour alongside other more commonplace mid sounds when mixed well. Unoriginally I see the sound as a smooth and shiny layer of mustard and mud yellow, with darker bold lines conveying the sax sound’s rougher edges from the breath control, reed vibration and finger positions being picked up by the mic. Having it just there in the mix isn’t always enough, I try to do something weird with it. Picking it up myself was key to be able to get the sound I wanted out of it and I’m still learning.
Which track would you say changed the most from the demo stage to the final product? And in what way?
Guru Deva was originally called Blue Song and I wrote it around 2017. It was never a demo, just an A5 page of lyrics, and in fact none of these tracks were ever actually demos as we had built them up from working on them live. So Divine originally had a straight beat through the verse, and we only decided to make it have a swung feel last minute, which we felt contrasted well against the straight beat of the chorus.
Which is your favourite track to perform live? And why?
It has to be Live Out Your Lonely Life, but it’s the hardest to perform vocally. It takes a lot of emotional energy to perform it with the intensity intended for it, so it’s always a thrill to play.
Following the release of Memories of the Future, what will be next on the horizon for you?
With a completely rhythm section (Nick Wemyss still on lead guitar) we’re working on a load of new material. What form they’ll take is hard to tell. It would be great to release another body of work, hopefully a debut album, so we’re going to focus on that and get some live dates so we can showcase our newest songs alongside the EP. I’m grateful to have a new rhythm section who have taken to the songs so well. Things are working nicely developing new material.
You can also listen to ‘Live Out Your Lonely Life’ in our Outsiders Club playlist.
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