Feeling frisky? If you’re a fan of third wave post-rock and affiliated genres, chances are you’ve got a lot of energy to get out. Luckily enough for us, Dutch Elm were formed in 2016 when the peaks of the movement were in full swing and the attention rose globally. The year alone saw the return of Explosions in the Sky, yndi halda, Hammock, and If These Trees Could Talk if you don’t believe me. That type of yearly catalogue just isn’t seen anymore, and it’s been fewer and further between as bigger acts fizzle out and newcomers don’t readily take their place. Dutch Elm are thankfully filling the void as their unique flare of instrumental inertia will finally be given its time, and not a second too late.
The music of the Newcastle-based five-piece exists in the delicate spaces as well as the destructive ones, meaning it can represent the antique shop along with the person in the antique shop with a bat pummeling ceramics. Suffice to say that Dutch Elm can craft the quieter, impactful moments that bands like The Six Parts Seven love to meddle in, as well as driving home the emphatic blasts of power that Adebisi Shank would rain down. It might be best to just hear the band themselves and see if your ears perk up from the tunes like mine did, and what better than with a new song? Please enjoy “Cats and That”, the second single from Dutch Elm’s self-titled debut via Ripcord Records here first at Everything Is Noise:
From the ambient interlude and shifting rhythms that begin the track, you get the sense that Dutch Elm approach their music writing with careful consideration to fully extract the meaning out of each moment. The dialed down passages are self-sustaining, dense with effects and layers that independently spark intrigue while also carrying the song into the climax by the end. The payoff is well worth it, but executed in such a way that feels like an auteur director communicating exactly what they intend with each passing frame. The end result is a matured yet approachable blend of math and post-rock that offers far more than the genres they’ve built their sound out of. The band offer their own thoughts on the single as well:
‘One of the slower tracks on the album, “Cats and That” delivers a meandering progression of heavily effects laden, delayed guitars over foundational, deep octave bass and relaxed, shuffling drums. “Cats and That” is our take on the classic post-rock quiet/loud dynamic, it’s definitely the most patient we’ve been when writing a song, we’ve let the space do the talking. It’s a slow burn, with a shimmering mid-section, exploding into controlled chaos with a post-hardcore edge in its close.’
I hope I’ve convinced some of you to relive your mid-2010’s nostalgia through the lively new song from the group. If you liked what you’ve heard and want more, be sure to follow Dutch Elm on Bandcamp, Instagram, and Facebook as we await their new album, titled Dutch Elm, due out June 5 via Ripcord Records.
