Dagny is back, and she’s back in shimmering fashion with the sultry flicks and chimes of new number ‘Wearing Nothing’.
Following on from debut EP ‘Ultraviolet’, ‘Wearing Nothing’ takes the mantle Dagny laid out there and builds a mansion on top of it. Picking you up with a swagger-filled immediacy, it manages to once again straddle the lines between infectious, cool and immediate in a way that has us already whacking out our hairbrushes in front of the mirror to sing along. Yeah, it’s that good.
Speaking about the track and the core of everything it stands for, Dagny said: “It plays on the idea of wanting to be naked with someone. You meet this person you really want to show everything to and be as close as possible to. You’re as bare with them as you can be—to the point where even a piece of clothing feels like too much space in between. You want them to see everything physically and mentally. When you’re an artist, it feels like you’re doing the same thing and showing something intimate and sharing a personal story. I believe it’s my most intimate song to date.”
Judging by the way we’re toe-tapping around the office, we happen to agree – continuing a rise that hasn’t had to wait around for tips and hype, but has gone straight for the jugular. The dawning of a bonafide pop star with meaning, Dagny is here to stay.
As it’s been a while, we thought we better catch-up with Dagny to mark the occasion – so finding a cheeky spot near the Vevo Garden at last week’s The Great Escape (more on that in the coming days), we got the lowdown on what’s been happening in Dagny-world so far this year – and what’s to come.
First things first though, get ‘Wearing Nothing’ on repeat, the summer pretty much demands it.
Hey Dagny! It’s been a while since we last had a chat, how have things been? What’ve you been up to this year?
Hey! We’ve kinda just taken our time so far this year. After the release of the EP, which came together really quickly, I kinda realised that I could take my time a bit more. So I went back to LA and spent time trying to be a bit more experimental in the way I was writing songs. I naturally write music which is high-energy, happy, very optimistic and positive – and I think it’s been really nice to have the time to try and write all kinds of music. Really big productions, really minimal productions, really sad songs and serious songs – and I always try to push how honest I am in my music, how daring I am with what I say in my songs
Looking back on ‘Ultraviolet’ and everything that brought, it must of been a whirlwind to be in that?
Yeah, I mean, going further back, when we released ‘Backbeat’ it was kinda without anything, it was just me and my band putting out this song that we’d recorded together. There was no masterplan, there was no label and there really was nothing. Things took time to get settled, and that’s when I went to LA to write and the EP came quite naturally from that. Everything was so new and exciting and such a wide-eyed experience, like that first moment of being in love, is the only way I can describe it.
What’s it been like hitting the road, has it been amazing seeing those reactions from people so heavily invested in the music you make?
Definitely! We did a tour at the start of this year which was my first ever headline tour and it was the most incredible thing, because playing to your own audience is such a difference. Like they actually came to see me, it wasn’t like they were there to see one of like 15 bands after me. It was really fun, and I kinda finished the tour with such great energy. I went back to LA and it all resulted in this new material.
Things are happening and people are excited, and of course that affects us in everything we do
It’s amazing and I’m constantly surprised as to how much it means to them, in the same way other music does to me – it’s nice to see I can do that for other people.
How important was taking that time after ‘Ultraviolet’ to go back to LA? It seems like over the past few months you’ve kinda taken yourself away from things – how was that?
Really nice. After releasing ‘Ultraviolet’, I kinda just thought to myself ‘maybe I should actually take some time on writing and that’, and not feel stressed and feel like I’m always a step behind. Like…
I don’t feel like I need to be up in people’s faces. I know with social media there’s a pressure to be up in people’s faces all the time but I feel like when you take that time to go away and write and focus on that, there’s no reason that I need to remind people every day that I’m here! For me, the focus has been trying to really say something with my music and be honest, and it means something. You can go into the studio everyday and write, write, write – but you actually want to write something that actually fucking hits you hard, and that doesn’t happen everyday. I got to spend months in LA, and it’s not just being there – but travelling with the new music and meeting people and that’s all part of why I want to do this.
Now I feel like we’re really ready, to push the button and just go
Sounds great, and taking this new chapter out to people and getting them to hear more of what you’ve been working on must be really exciting?
Especially live! Our goal, like every time we go out on a new round, I feel like we become a slightly different band – not in a bad way, but we get like more defined and get better in certain areas. If you see us now, and then you see us in six months time, hopefully it’s like a big change and that’s something I’m really proud of.
For me, music isn’t something I’m just doing for now and then I’m going to go off and get serious, it’s not like that. It’s my hobby, my love and my everything – and I just always want to be in motion, that’s what keeps it exciting.