Diagrams – Chromatics (2015)

The first time I saw this album was probably in Rough Trade's albums of the month. Back then I thought this would've been a new album by the band Chromatics and when I listened to the album, I was really surprised that it didn't have that similar kind of electronic dream pop sound as the previous Chromatics songs I had heard. This was more melodic and more traditional indie pop music in the style of The Shins. I really liked this and soon realised that Chromatics was actually the name of the album rather than the band. The band is Diagrams, an indie band from South London that has some previous members of Tunng, which I also really like. I was really impressed by the album and I bought it quite soon after first hearing it. This was the kind of early 00's style indie that I had adored for years, but that had virtually disappeared from the map by 2015.



I was lucky enough to also see Diagrams live at The Lexington pretty soon after the release of this album. The gig was really good and I had binge-listened to this album enough to know many lyrics by heart. At the end of the show, the band released a bunch of balloons to the audience and all in all, it was a really good show in addition to music being very enjoyable. This album ended up quite high on my top-10 list of albums in 2015.

The album starts with laser-type sounds in the song Phantom Power, but fairly soon the acoustic guitar creeps in and when the song really kicks in with melodic whistling smooth vocals, the board is set for some excellent indie pop. The song is a real earworm but only in a good way. This song is followed by a bit more experimental song Gentle Morning Song that has quite a complex, yet beautiful melody and some electronic samples and buzzes. Desolation is a bit darker song, but there's still a quite uptempo beat and there's some light in the melodies. The title-track Chromatics has some electronic-beeps that sound like morse code, but on top of that is just this incredibly beautiful acoustic guitar along with a beautiful melody. This ballad is one of my favourite songs on the album. The chorus can at the same time make you weep and bring comforting warmth to your heart. You Can Talk to Me is the most obvious hit song on the album. The chorus has some real singalong qualities. Shapes is a quiet and creeping song that only reveals it's true strength after a couple of listens. Dirty Broken Bliss is probably the most electronic sounding song on the album. There's a groovy beat and some electronic samples in the back of a catchy and melodic indie hit. Serpent is a great hypnotic song with quiet beauty and some space-age sounds. The Light and the Noise is a true indie hit with very catchy melodies and an upbeat rhythm. It reminds me of The Shins or newer Belle & Sebastian. Brain has slightly bigger sounds than the rest of the album. It could sound even grander with addition of instruments, but then it would be a completely different band. Now it manages to resemble rest of the album despite of it's grandiose qualities. The album ends with a folky song Just a Hair's Breadth that starts off quiet and simple, but grows nicely towards the end with some fairy-tale strings.

When I had bought the album and been really happy about the gig I saw, I was happy to learn that Diagrams has also made some music videos. The music video for Phantom Power is a beautiful simplistic animation with some really heartwarming scenes. The animation for some reason further makes links even stronger to bands like The Shins or Super Furry Animals, who have used similar visual aesthetics in their album covers and music videos.

Diagrams don't necessarily bring that much new to the world of music with this second album of theirs, but for people like me who feel nostalgic towards early 00's warm indie music with heartwarming melodies, it is a really welcome retro experience.

Listen to the album on Spotify.