Dais Records – DAIS156
Australian outfit Death Bells return with their sophomore album, New
Signs of Life. Nine Captivating tracks for fans of eighties indie,
classic antipodean new wave, and turn of the century post-punk.
After swapping hemispheres, Australian outfit Death Bells have found a
new home in Los Angeles, emerging with a new album of fervent
guitar-driven rock, stripped of gloom and punching through with a new
sense of positivity. New Signs of Life, their debut for Dais Records,
finds Death Bells using a DIY pedigree to plunder the conventions of
“rock music” with a saxophone along for the mission. Rather than leaping
genres or formats, New Signs of Life is refined and nuanced—a
methodology built on process, craft, and perspective.
Following their 2017 debut, Standing at the Edge of the World, and
follow-up single “Echoes,” Death Bells left their hometown of Sydney for
the United States. Energized by impulse, extensive touring and
exploration led to the formation of an ambitious six-piece band that
eventually coalesced as a collaboration between founding members Will
Canning and Remy Veselis. With Canning and Veselis becoming the engine,
Death Bells began to employ several underground mainstay musicians to
complete their live presentation, including Cortland Gibson (Dock
Hellis), Colin Knight (Object of Affection), and on occasion Brian Vega
(Fearing).
Revitalized and centered, Death Bells released the single “Around the
Bend” in 2019, before workshopping material that would eventually
comprise their second full-length effort. As much as Standing at the
Edge of the World was an energized disclosure informed by fresh naivete,
New Signs of Life harnesses those initial sparks, cloaking the threads
of Death Bells with authority, allowing each of the nine tracks which
embody New Signs of Life to become lush streamlined vehicles.
The eponymous lead single is a grandiose statement, influenced by the
theme song of HBO’s classic television program Six Feet Under. The
lyrics are a shopping list of personal neuroses charged with wry
optimism, dressed with jagged guitars, brass, and percussion providing a
deliberate pace for Death Bell’s new chapter. As method gives way to
melody, New Signs of Life exudes an urgent hope laced with drive and
verve.
The first track for New Signs of Life, “Heavenly Bodies,” signals Death
Bells’ point-blank delivery of a laconic truth: “We all vanish, anyway.”
Somber and cool, it eases into hushed staccato hypnosis while still
finding the tenets of guitar-driven rock. ”A Different Kind of Happy”
and “Alison” push the edge of convention, speaking to the power of love
in a world gone mad. A nod to their homeland and new city’s surf
heritage, “Shot Down (Falling)” pivots playful to a sun-soaked beach
strum, layered with shimmer before the horizon fades. As a new statement
of purpose, New Signs of Life subverts the band’s moniker, offering
breath during suffocation; optimism in chaos with sound over sinking.
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