“A lot of fans have been telling us that ‘Waking up Alone / Julia’ is our most moshable song, and, ‘Can we have some more moshable songs?’ [Laughs] I didn’t know that’s what Divine Sweater fans wanted…” says Sean Seaver, lead guitarist and producer for Boston indie pop band Divine Sweater. Seaver is referring to a synth-tinged alt-rock track off of the band’s third and latest album, Down Deep (A Nautical Apocalypse), which dropped this May. The LP is a concept album, which the band has characterized as, “a series of vignettes from the end of the world,” with humans reflecting on their lives from previously abandoned submarines, which house them in their final days, until inevitable doom.
The musical science fiction tale that is Down Deep was inspired by classic concept albums The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (by David Bowie), Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (by The Flaming Lips), and Sly and the Family Stone’s There’s a Riot Goin’ On, Seaver tells me during our phone chat earlier this week, but also admits that the band are always inspired by the likes of Miles Davis, The Beatles, Beach Boys, Fleetwood Mac, D’Angelo, and, for Seaver personally, the ambient works of Brian Eno. The album was produced by phriend of PHILTHY and San Fermin vocalist Allen Tate in Brooklyn. Seaver tells me that, “For us, it was the first time not DIY-ing the process,” and that, “To [him], Down Deep sounds a little more – and I’m air-quoting this – “professional [laughs]” than previous releases.
This March Divine Sweater released a music video for album track “When the World is Ending,” a charmingly kitschy and humorous visualization of the band telling their stories from their very own Apocalypse submarine, representing the narrative of the second half of the album. And Seaver tells me that the band are releasing a companion piece to this video in the very near future: “We’re releasing a video for ‘In the Comedown,’ the first song on the album, on Thursday. Those two videos literally tell the story of the album.”
Divine Sweater have been releasing music since 2018, and released their first full-length, Human Love, in 2019, followed by 2021’s Divine Sweater Presents: The Ten Year Plan. However, Seaver tells me that many band members have relationships that long preceded that: “I’ve been playing with our drummer, Chris Southiere, since high school, and we met Meghan [Kelleher] in college, when she sang with us for a Battle Of The Bands. And I met our bassist, Alex Goldberg, at a desk job that I had, and he’s been playing with our keyboardist, Steve Lin, since high school. So, there are two groups of high school friends, plus Meghan!”
Right now Divine Sweater are nearing the end of a dozen-date Summer Tour, which kicked off May 26th in Brooklyn and will wrap right here at The Foundry at The Fillmore on Saturday, July 15th. Seaver tells me that the most exciting thing about this tour has been seeing so many people show up and know their music, outside of their own, personal Boston friends: “It’s been great! Boston and Philly will be our two biggest shows ever! We sold-out in New York the night our album came out, and we sold-out DC last Saturday!”
In terms of what you can expect of Divine Sweater, when they play the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection on July 15th, Seaver tells me, “It’s gonna be mostly our new record, but our – I’m doing air quotes again – ‘popular’ songs, as well. We have played the album front-to-back, but I don’t think we’ll do that for the Philly show. I think it’ll be selected highlights from the record, and selected highlights from the first two.” He also tells me that fans can expect more touring from the band, following this Summer Tour, but that they also already have newer music well in the works: “We have another album that we’re currently recording; I’m mixing it right now. And we’re finding the appropriate timeline to release that, but I think we still want to tour Down Deep a while, so maybe 2024 will be when the next one comes out.”
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