Words: Gabrielle White / @gabrielleblanche
- Dirty Nice are a duo split between London and Bournemouth, specialising in emotive, alternative synth-pop.
- ‘MONTEVIDEO’ is their 6th release in 2020 alone.
- FFO: APRE, Dirty Projectors & Passion Pit.
Following up from their recent single ‘The Deep Down’, an arguably more existential track, Dirty Nice have served up a mellow, synth-pop escape from the seemingly stationary world we’re existing in with a catchy refrain that sticks in your head like sand between your toes. The duo, comprised of Charlie Pelling and Mark Thompson self-produce and compose all of their material which really shines through in their new single ‘Montevideo’, creating a complete vision for an 80’s new-wave inspired, sun-soaked tune.
With bouncing synths and Pelling’s softly thoughtful vocals, the pair ask us to take a breath from our currently stagnant existence and to find our piece of mind in one another. Pelling explains: “In times like these, when we can’t travel to some romantic beach on the other side of the world, we have to find paradise within one another”; and when that subtle acoustic guitar hits in the second verse, you’re pulled into that paradise.
Channeling a distinctly indie-pop buoyancy akin to Vampire weekend, Dirty Nice conjure up images of swimsuit clad, care-free youths in warm foreign waters and the untroubled feelings of a summer romance. There’s a simple optimism that you can’t help but gravitate to, a humanity and lightness to pull you out of your lock-down funk and get you to gaze into your flat mate’s baby-blues.