Dassie has returned with the release of their poignant EP, No Echo. Dassie is the solo work of David Moffatt, best known as the guitarist and co-songwriter for indie / alt-rock band The Dirty Skirts. Dassie’s debut Mistress was released in 2014 and was a subdued combination of Ukulele and gentle electronica. The debut was nominated for a South African Music Award in the Best Alternative category.
More info about No Echo
Released through The Good Times Co, “No Echo” The four-song EP, recorded during lockdown in South Africa and written through 2019 & 2020 sees a return to guitar-based songwriting. David’s approach to songwriting in Dassie collages the music and concludes with an overlaying vocal melody.
The lyrical themes reflect a society characterised in part by violent crime and domestic violence and the futility of optimism. This sits incongruently with the sound of the music, which Dassie attributes to their origination coming from different places – heart and head.
The EP title ‘No Echo’ is born from the fatigue of futile efforts, of unreciprocated actions and fading hope. It’s the title track from the EP, which was written under the strict early lockdown in South Africa. During this 6 week period it was illegal to leave your home, socialise, exercise and cigarettes and alcohol were banned. Businesses crumbled, jobs were lost, panic set in and all that we knew became cloaked in uncertainty.
These conditions were consistent with much of the world. But in South Africa they landed on a country already bending under the weight of its enormous challenges: it’s crime, electrical load-shedding, poverty, domestic violence, unemployment, inequality and corruption. Glimmers of progress seemed to immediately fade.
The dichotomy between the sound of this record – light, listenable indie rock – and the lyrics, which allude to various worrying observations and anxiety is also represented by the album cover – a photograph (youthful, optimistic, innocent) and ‘black mist’ (danger, anxiety, mental illness).
You can download / stream “No Echo” HERE.
More info about The Dirty Skirts
The Dirty Skirts, the band David Moffatt co-founded (2004-2011) released 4 albums, signed to Sony Records, played SXSW and headlined many South African Festivals. In addition to opening for international rock bands on tour in South Africa including Oasis, Snow Patrol, Billy Talent, Three Doors Down and Evanescence amongst others. The Dirty Skirts‘ 2011 album Lost in the Fall won a South African Music Award for Best Alternative Album.
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