In their own words less of a song and more of a musical postcard, the 1 minute and 3 quarters long ‘Unconditional’ is an ode to the unpredictability of love and the vast range of emotions it can inspire within us. So how could Deep Dive Species manage to capture this in an almost solo guitar piece that doesn’t last 2 minutes? Let’s find out.
Based in New York, Deep Dive Species is a duo composed of Vadim Militsin and Sergey Popovich, who both share composing and production credits on ‘Unconditional’. Their sound can be easily described as organic, reverb-heavy electronica with trip-hop elements, meeting post-punk and 80s indie somewhere along the road. Maybe not so easy after all. Think something of a Joy Division, Bonobo, and Massive Attack hybrid.
The music on ‘Unconditional’ is composed of a pair of seesawing chords accompanied by looping arpeggios on guitars, supported by a throbbing electronic rhythm part that is steady and grounded, and that’s pretty much all that goes on here, except for a synth string part that kicks in the middle, and an outro also introduces another ethereal pad. But that is only half the story, with the other half being the exquisite taste that drives the restraint, sets an unmatched mood of colorful wistfulness, and leads to 2 guitar lines rubbing against each other sounding this complete. A pure masterclass in the setting of reverbs and guitar chorusing to their most haunting and effective levels, all tools that carry the simplicity of the melodies along to their desired targets, direct to our hearts.
‘Unconditional’ is sweet, sad, curious, ominous, and hopeful all in one short, stormy package that speaks loudly of the fantastic skill of its creators. Deep Dive Species stun with their latest musical postcard.
