Album Review: DIIV - Is The Is Are

Brooklyn indie rockers DIIV began as a bedroom project for ex-Beach Fossils drummer Zachary Cole Smith before making a big splash with 2012 debut Oshin.

This follow-up experienced a strange genesis — purportedly 300 songs written, arrests, drug-related departures — but ends up being a solid extension of the DIIV dream-pop aesthetic — less guitar-focussed and reverb-drenched but rife with ambition. The 17-track sonic exploration is definitely moodier and denser but rewards repeated listens as subtle submerged hooks begin to shine through on tracks like Yr Not Far and early single Dopamine.