Daine is back — and they’re sounding more vulnerable than ever.
The Filipino-Australian genre-blending producer and artist today dropped “PQC” — listen below.
It’s the “inception point” of their forthcoming debut album, according to a press release, the track that sets “the emotional and sonic direction for the generational record about to follow.”
Daine’s lyrics start out on an optimistic note: “I think that it’s quite better than I imagined / Lost a lot of money on this but I guess it happens / They all want me dead but I still care about them / So if they break my bones again it won’t even matter,” they sing.
“You’re plastic / You’re tragic / Overly-romantic / It happens like magic,” they later sing in the incredibly catchy chorus.
“PQC” was written and produced with Curtis Everett Pawley and Darcy Baylis. Watch the accompanying music video, directed by Dylan Marriott, below.
Daine’s new song already has one big fan in friend and collaborator Ninajirachi. “Perfect music,” the Australian producer commented on the “PQC” video announcement post on Instagram.
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We got Ninajirachi and daine together for an in-depth conversation last year, and the latter opened up about their anxieties surrounding their debut album.
“My god, it’s so scary,” daine admitted. “Yeah, I have no issue admitting that I’m terrified and I think that I put it off this long because I feel like an album is something that needs to have a cohesive concept and a sound.
“I think that my sound has been kind of all over the place and I’ve been trying to find what it is. So like mixtapes and EPs are just what naturally comes out, because there’s not that pressure for it to be this fully fledged out thing conceptually.”
Daine also told Ninajirachi about the lyrical direction their music has been taking: “At least conceptually in my lyrics, I’m trying to explore things that are a little uglier and more uncomfortable, but in a really cheeky, fun way. And just like push boundaries.
“Even though I feel like it’s really hard to push boundaries nowadays because everything is just so intense and over the top in media, which is kind of frustrating. But then again, I think the only way to make something feel like it’s boundary pushing is to also like understate things in a way. And I think I want my sound to just be really simple and direct.”
It sure sounds like Daine’s debut album is going to be worth the wait.
“This record was made by someone who has been on a genuine journey, coming fully into themselves. It reflects a life that has packed an extraordinary number of lessons and experiences into a remarkably short time,” the press release explains.
“Experiences turned into opportunities to gain wisdom, confidence and empathy. What we’re seeing is an artist with an incredible perspective and an unrivalled vision.”
Daine might not have dropped a full-length album yet, but they’ve released several great mixtapes into the world.
“Daine’s mixtape is a transcendent hyper-pop fever dream with a beating heart underneath its glistening surface,” we wrote of 2023’s shapeless in a 3/5 review.
Daine’s “PQC” is out now.
