Don’t watch the music video for “Security”, Divers’ new single, if you’ve been craving a night out: you’ll be abandoning your desk and calling up some friends immediately.
For the the Melbourne indie pop band, the destination is the city’s mesmerising Chinatown, and the night out has a specific air to it: it’s one where nothing concrete is planned except aimless wandering, letting the lingering aromas of unvisited restaurants entice you, hoping to find an unexpected watering hole that could become a regular haunt.
Much has been made of the return of ‘indie sleaze’, but Divers maintain the movement’s yearning for fun and freedom while removing the lugubrious aspect; the version of hedonism that drifts through “Security” isn’t one that will lead to ruinous escapades, but rather just four friends having a good time.
And to stay on ‘indie sleaze’, there are slight hints of noughties favourites Passion Pit in the purposefully elusive vocals that Scott McQuilten unleashes, although “unleashes” would be the wrong word – the mysterious vocals are barely audible, as if McQuilten and his bandmates want to taunt listeners into joining them on their Chinatown sojourn.
Hazy indie pop like this, in other words, never goes out of fashion. It meanders in and out of the collective consciousness, always rearing its head again.
As for the song title, Divers had ambiguity in mind. “We liked that the word “security” has two meanings,” they explain. “The state of feeling safe and free from danger, but then also the people who will kick you out of the pub if you’re too fucked up.
“”Security” feels like that, it’s ambiguous and avoidant but at times direct and to the point. I think it was supposed to be an apology of sorts but even with the lyrics in the chorus, the words wouldn’t come out right. It ends up being a mumbled mess of stubbornness with no definite ending.”
“Security” is the first taste of the band’s new EP, Economy Class, which doesn’t have an official release date yet. The EP was a true DIY project, with all six songs being recorded at Divers’ home studio in Melbourne. If the further five songs sound anything like “Security”, then Divers’ growing reputation as one of this country’s most quietly effective guitar bands will be secured.
