"New Name Blues"/"Lonely Life" from Dick Diver

One certain way to brighten my day is to tell me that there is a new release from Melbourne's Dick Diver.  Of course, none of you did that, so no credit goes your way.  But I found out anyway, so I'm a happy guy.  Moreover, I'm a happy guy who is willing to share.  The record is a two-track single "New Name Blues" with B-side "Lonely Life".  These are the first songs since Calendar Days, Dick Diver's 2013 LP on Chapter Music which regular readers might recall headed my list of best albums for the year (review, 2013 list).  This also is the first official US release for the band, via Fruits and Flowers Records.

The A-side presents as a relaxed pop song, and devolves into a dreamy jam.  Close your eyes, open your ears and you cans see a kaleidoscope of colors.  However, the subject is serious -- the treatment of Australia's Aboriginal people.  In my view, Dick Diver's art is sublime.  But the art goes to the next level with the infusion of a serious and well articulated point of view.  The B-side, "Lonely Life", is a cover of a '80s song by Colourful Stone.  I think the vocals on the first track are by Al Monfort, and on the second by Rupert Edwards with an assist from Steph Hughes, but that's a guess.  The other member of Dick Diver is guitarist Al McKay.  The album art for "New Name Blues"/"Lonely Life" is by Steph Hughes.

Stream the single here --




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