Dorsal Fins have released their new album Digital Zodiac, the songs on Digital Zodiac feel born of the kind of musical collaboration that can only be described as joyous: at turns frenetic, laconic, overblown and understated.
Digital Zodiac is a decidedly more laid-back affair than its predecessor, 2015’s Mind Renovation. When asked how he manages to keep cohesion on a record so full of musical ideas, Liam McGorry warns, “It’s not graceful. Throw it at the wall and see what sticks.” He says it’s a testament to the record’s voices that the album maintains a through-line, but one of Digital Zodiac’s strengths is its slow unravel: the album’s first half is buoyant and exuberant, elevated by the amorous ‘High Low’ and the ironically raucous ‘Sedated’. A reflective outro on ‘Precious Hands’ signals a shift, and the melancholy of ‘Blind’ is rounded out by ‘Man Versus Women’, a kind of twisted lullaby.
For a band that is adored for its eclecticism, finding a characteristic that unites each song from Digital Zodiac might seem difficult, but there is no doubt that what defines this record is its sense of wholeness. To say it sounds like a well-maintained machine denies the album of its visceral, human flourishes, but the moving parts within Digital Zodiac function so harmoniously that there’s something stunning about their mechanics — it truly sounds like nine moving as one.
Stream/purchase Digital Zodiac here.
DORSAL FINS – Upcoming Shows
Friday 4th November | Deadlam – The Brightside, Fortitude Valley, QLD
Tickets
Sunday 6th November | Darebin Music Feast (Closing Party) – Preston, VIC
Free Show
Sunday 13th November | Love Live Music at the ‘G (MMW) – Melbourne, VIC
Tickets
Friday 19th November | Face The Music (MMW) – Forecourt, Melbourne, VIC
Free show
Saturday 19th November | THE PLOT – Paramatta Park, NSW
Tickets
