Din of Celestial Birds - The Night Is for Dreamers

A Closer Listen

Let’s start with one of the early singles, “Downpour,” because it captures a quintessential festival moment: the band is on stage, the skies open, the deluge falls and the players keep playing.  Leeds quintet Din of Celestial Birds witnessed this drama in person at a prior ArcTangent festival, and now that they will be appearing at this month’s event, they may be able to replicate it.  The track captures all the energy of a festival event, as well as the unbridled optimism of a young band releasing its debut album.  The twinkling synths that enter mid-piece are the icing on the cake, or perhaps the sprinkles before the downpour.  In the closing moments, the interplay of synths and drums is especially powerful.  Of course it helps to have three guitarists and one bassist.  On “Laureate of American Lowlife,” the guitars make way for Bukowski samples before rushing in time and time again, concluding in a series of heavy metal riffs.  But can Din of Celestial Birds get quiet?  “This Transient Spring” separates the two aforementioned behemoths, concentrating on piano and glockenspiel before gently moving back into post-rock territory.  The nuance is crucial, as it keeps the band from being pigeonholed.

The same holds true for the bookends, although we would have flipped the script.  Scale-loving album opener “Utopia” is described as the band’s “happy song,” while closer “I Love You But It’s Killing Me” addresses “addiction and mental illness.”  In light of this emotional trajectory, one might view the album as a downward spiral, resisted only by the band’s seeming inability to be truly morose.  When one is out in the rain, one really doesn’t want to be thinking about broken relationships, so it’s a relief that “I Love You” is more desperate in description than in execution, save for the odd interjection of “Your mother and I are separating” 90 seconds before the end.

Din of Celestial Birds is likely to make a big impact at ArcTangent, but they don’t need dialogue samples; the music is engaging enough.  The album’s Big Dance Track, “Junebug,” seems a likely candidate to be a set closer or encore.  When the drums momentarily slow, cued-in dancers may follow; we recommend it as the next single.  If you’re headed to ArcTangent, be sure to check out this energetic band; bring your rubber boots and have fun in the puddles!  (Richard Allen)