I knew nothing of Manchester four-piece, Diving Station, until I heard their previous single – the mysterious, imaginative, and plainly magnificent Joanna. In my guise as a contributor to (the great) Sounds Good, I’d originally picked it for review based on the strength of the artwork – which is one of the best sleeves I’ve seen since I began writing about new music – as well as the title itself, as I thought “surely it’s not THE Joanna“. Obviously it wasn’t – but I was blown away by what I was hearing. For better or worse (and I know this is bad of me, but you must believe I have my reasons) when I see the words ‘Manchester’ and ‘indie’ in a bio of a young band, alarm bells start going off. But these guys were different.

Built around the vocals and clàrsach of Anna McLuckie, Diving Station excel at a kind of organic otherworldliness. Along with McLuckie, the other three members – Sean Rogan on guitar, George Burrage on bass, and Barnabas Kimberley on drums and vocals – are inventive musicians that do everything except what you’d expect them to do. Their sound is anything but straightforward, or ordinary, and it gives their music a depth that marks them out from the majority of their peers.

As with the aforementioned Joanna, two of the most striking things about Fruit Flies are the meticulous arrangement and Hugo Meredith-Hardy’s rich, experimental production. Opening with a rhythm led by reversed guitar, the dry drums fall in along with Burrage’s earthy bass. McLuckie’s vocals once again beguile, leading the song into its cinematic chorus. It’s a word that’s overused a lot in reviews, along with widescreen, but it’s hard not to use them both here. Kimberley’s skittering drums are also a clear highlight, along with the flourishes of harp. As the song drives on, Rogan’s guitar work is also given plenty of opportunity to impress, and it duly does. His playing is beautifully expressive, and eschews the easy option everytime in favour of spindly lines and textures which are integral to Diving Station’s sound.

Overall Fruit Flies has a lighter feel than its predecessor, but still retains the imaginative, enigmatic quality that made such a huge impression. As a second taster of their forthcoming EP, June Damp, it also keeps those expectations extremely high. In the press release, McLuckie refers to Fruit Flies as the band’s “first attempt at trying to write a song with a positive outlook. We wanted to capture a real sunny innocence and naivety in the words and the melody”. After the year we’ve all had, it’s a sentiment that a lot of us can get behind.

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