Dog Race - Return The Day Dog Race

When a striking visual aesthetic and a striking sonic aesthetic coalesce this impressively, we have to sit up and take notice.

And on hearing that Dog Race’s magnetic debut EP was only available digitally, we at Dinked also had to jump on the opportunity to get it onto wax, as the next edition in our “Early Doors” series! These 5 tracks, from the London-based gothic five-piece, have had Ali Chant’s production wizardry applied and, with Katie’s operatic vocals drifting through modulated guitars and synths that crackle with unease, we’re left somewhere between The Cure’s bassy melancholy and Future Islands’ poppier modulations. Despite being cinematic, disquieting and uncomfortably honest, these songs are curiously catchy and lucid.

Dog Race, unveil a debut EP that drags you deep into the fog of burnout, co-dependency, and emotional stasis. Across five tracks, the band unspools the slow horror of fading joy and fractured identity, where insomnia bleeds into daylight and personal growth is sacrificed to keep others comfortable.

Following the stark theatrics of ‘It’s The Squeeze’ and the icy operatic swell of ‘The Leader', the EP pushes further into the dark. ‘Return The Day’ captures a band fully embracing psychological unrest and emotional paralysis. Dog Race may take their time, but they strike hard.