Frog in Boiling Water

Heavy shoegaze. Slow tempos, storm clouds of guitar distortion, carefully crafted textures, whispered harmonies. DIIV's fourth album is full of meditations on capitalism and climate breakdown. The songs offer lots of dread and little catharsis, but their bleak beauty is deeply moving. RIYL Nothing, Slowdive, Cloakroom, Jesu, Idaho, (non-screaming) Deafheaven. Favorites: 5, 7, 9, 10. No FCCs detected.

1. (4:08)—Slow, slithering, heavy. Dreamy middle, sudden end.
2. (4:25)—Slow, bluesy, ominous, dramatic.
3. (3:53)—Mid-tempo. Softer and less distortion-heavy, with a slow build. Prominent field recordings of bird calls.
4. (3:50)—Mid-tempo, gauzy, with a more pop-friendly chorus.
5. *(4:52)—Mid-tempo, gentle and beautiful but dire. Acoustic guitar strumming, field recordings. Drums enter halfway.
6. (3:37)—Slow, with a pretty and doomy groove, very 90s alt-rock radio.
7. *(3:59)—Mid-tempo. Beautiful, cruising build in the middle. As close to ecstatic as the album gets.
8. (4:21)—Mid-tempo, with prominent synth and drum machine textures. Outro sound collage segues into the next track.
9. *(4:25)—Slow, dramatic, with a loping beat and sludgy guitars. Sad and gorgeous, with masterful pacing. Lyrics about internet addiction, depression, and the attention economy.
10. *(5:34)—Slow, with a pretty, gentle beginning. Swells and builds gracefully. Lovely ending.