Deary – Band of the Month [December]

Our featured band this month is London dream pop/ethereal/indie pop/shoegaze duo deary.

Made up of multi-instrumentalists Rebecca Cockram and Ben Easton. In the midst of the global pandemic, the duo struck up a partnership, swapping ideas over social media. Speaking about how the project started the Ben told UndertheRadar:

“When the first lockdown happened, myself and my girlfriend moved, moved down to my parents’ house in Kent. They live in the sticks basically, and we had no outgoings, so I just had a surplus amount of money to spend on some new gear. I’ve always been a bassist by trade, and I really wanted to write some music to help me through the pandemic. So, I basically wrote some dream poppy, ethereal stuff and there were no vocals on it at the time. I bought myself loads of pedals, bought myself a Jazzmaster, and I was like, “You know what? I’m gonna fucking do this!” with a view that I’d find a female vocalist. So that started in March 2020, and I got chatting to a few people on social media but nothing really came of it, and then I found Dottie.”

“As soon as Dotty and I started chatting, it was like, “Right, who’s your inspiration?” And Dottie said, “Elizabeth Fraser.” So that was it. That’s my muse! So, while it’s quite easy to just look at Cocteau Twins and Slowdive and all the people who’ve really made an influence on that dreampop/shoegaze genre, there’s also so much other stuff that we really dig and I think our music going forward will reflect that. It’s a little bit more trip hoppy and a little bit more Portishead or Massive Attack influenced.”

Described as “a sonic tidal wave of feeling”, their acclaimed self-titled 6-track debut EP came out in November 2023, via Sonic Cathedral, featuring our favourite tracks Fairground, Heaven and Only Need.

On November this year, the band released their highly-anticipated six-track EP,  Aurelia via Sonic Cathedral. The EP includes the singles ‘The Moth’, ‘Selene’ and ‘The Drift’ featuring Slowdive drummer Simon Scott. Aurelia represents physical and metaphysical growth.

It’s a stunning record, which displays a new-found maturity in terms of production as well as musically and lyrically. Get it here if you haven’t already.

Since the release of their debut single at the start of 2023, they have supported legends such as Slowdive and Cranes and TikTok sensations like Wisp along the way.

deary are:

• Rebecca ‘Dottie’ Cockram (singer)
• Ben Easton (guitarist/producer)

Follow deary:

Instagram, Facebook, Bandcamp, Spotify, Twitter, Youtube

FFO: Slowdive, Cocteau Twins, Portishead

Photo credit: Nat Easton