Diane Coffee : Internet Arms
After four years, the chameleonic performer, Shaun Fleming returns as his alter ego Diane Coffee with a brand new album titled Internet Arms. On this, his third full length album, Fleming puts rest to Diane Coffee the the retro rock n’ roll svengali and emerges as Diane Coffee, 80’s indebted glam pop star. It’s a transition that delivers a thrilling listening experience that documents mankind’s adoption of rapidly changing technology and how it’s relationship with humans inevitably leads to dependency and eventual merging of this technology. Never have cautionary tales about internet addiction and simulated relationships with Artificial intelligence sounded so much fun.
First single and album opener Not Ready To Go lays out the blue print that Fleming used to build these new sounds, into a fluid listening experience. The album opens with a feeling of rebirth, from the first rumbling of synths to the chiming keys twinkling around the entrance of the song, like the first beam of light from a digital storm cloud. Not Ready to Go sounds timeless, like a lost pop confessional, one that painfully describes one’s dependency on another, with the realization that there is no exit . Wether Coffee is making a reference to being dependent on a lover who has nothing left to offer or a dependency on technology is a mute point, ultimately aren’t they the same? Lyrically Internet Arms displays some of Flemings best and most focused imagery, wrapping society’s twisted reality in glitter and plastic, through it all a remaining optimism. Although modern pop music is an undeniable influence, Fleming has managed to bridge these influences with what we already know and love about his earlier work.
Internet Arms plays out like a dialogue between the Internet and it’s feeble dependants, perhaps it’s you, caught in it’s hold, who’s history cannot be deleted. Fleming warns that our online dependency ultimately exposes ourselves to who we are, placing more chips on the side of mankind’s inevitable overlord who records our every move. Over the dystopian groove that beds the track, spoken segments warn of the possibility that we are in fact, pieces in a greater computer generated simulation, the warning culminating with a bleak “Good luck”.
With all the talk about a shift in sound on this album, after repeated listens, it reveals itself as natural progression within the Diane Coffee catalogue and not so far removed from past Diane Coffee albums. The new instrumentation is a great pallet cleanser for those of us that know the first two albums inside out. These new sounds offer a great fabric for which the concepts and themes found on Internet Arms are stitched seamlessly to.
Work It strips the excess with more traditional arrangements, that would have felt at home on Everybody’s a Good Dog. Acoustic strums and synth flourish the song. It’s chorus incredibly infectious and begs to be played loud, an incredibly satisfying anthem that motivates in simple terms, with one of the best vocal deliveries on the album, the back and forth between Fleming and the back up singers is used to great effect on Work It. The verses bounce, the chorus soars. If there is one song to wake up to on Internet Arms , Work It is your instant boost of motivation to get you through your day.
The album isn’t all doom and glitter however, Like A Child Does might be the albums most saccharin entry, utilizing 80’s guitar sounds and tinkling synths to full effect, giving reference to another time but sounding completely of today. Stuck In your Saturday Night is a slow burn that kind of loses itself during initial listens, repeated listens however allow this gem to rise to the surface. In Simulation, Fleming takes stock of man’s need or desire to improve upon human relationships and desires, sexually or emotionally, bypassing the complications of the human condition by creating life like simulations of our deepest desires.
Three album’s in and Diane Coffee has upped his creative stock with Internet Arms, It’s a statement of growth as a writer and musician. It’s success lies in the conceptual weight he has given to these pop excursions. If mankind is destined to completely turn itself over to technology and it’s many devices, then Diane Coffee has the soundtrack.
You can pick up a copy here.