deary – Alfie
We covered deary back in W03 2026 with “Seabird”, the lead single from their debut album Birding. Now the South London trio are back with “Alfie”, the second single.
Guitarist Ben Easton’s family dog had just passed, and the track began as a way to process that. But it grew. “Life felt like it was going so fast around us”, vocalist and guitarist Dottie Cockram says. “Loss is such a tough, but integral part of life… we wanted to capture that fragility in all its forms. The heartbreak, but also the ineffable gratitude of being able to experience it”. Drummer Harry Catchpole compares the track’s emotional arc to Sigur Rós’ “Popplagið” — “a huge crescendo conclusion, but also a centre point where there’s a real catharsis in such an emotional release”.
Structurally, it’s a pop song stretched wide, with long instrumental passages that prioritise sensation over words. The shoegaze reference points are all present, but “Alfie” doesn’t feel like an exercise in nostalgia. Cockram puts it well: “Shoegaze can make you feel like your feet aren’t touching the ground. Even though the instrumentation is heavy, there is a weightlessness to it”.
Birding was self-produced by the band alongside their longtime collaborator Iggy B — Ben had been working as a freelance mixing engineer and brought those skills back to the record. “Our last EP was us trying to be deary”, he says. “And this album is us being deary”. “Alfie” landed first during the recording sessions and became the album’s emotional centrepiece. It sits at track 10 of 11 on the tracklist, right before the closing title track — which, given how it builds, feels exactly right.
Birding is out April 3 via Bella Union. deary are also supporting The Twilight Sad on their UK tour in April and May.
Tracklist:
- Smile
- Seabird
- Baby’s Breath
- Gypsophila
- Blue Ribbon
- Garden Of Eden
- Alma
- No Sweeter Feeling
- Terra Fable
- Alfie
- Birding
Tour Dates Europe:
- April 3 – London, UK – The Lower Third (Rough Trade Outstore)
- April 29 – Bristol, UK – Electric Bristol *
- April 30 – London, UK – Roundhouse *
- May 2 – Manchester, UK – New Century Hall *
- May 3 – Newcastle upon Tyne, UK – Boiler Shop *
- May 5 – Glasgow, UK – Barrowlands *
- May 6 – Glasgow, UK – Barrowlands *
- May 9 – Dublin, Ireland – Button Factory *
- May 12 – Birmingham, UK – Hare & Hounds 2
- May 13 – Manchester, UK – YES Pink Room
- May 14 – Edinburgh, UK – VooDoo Room Speakeasy
- May 15 – Sheffield, UK – Sidney & Matilda Basement
- May 20 – Paris, France – Hasard Ludique
- May 21 – Rotterdam, Netherlands – V11
- May 22 – Amsterdam, Netherlands – Cinetol
- May 23 – Dusseldorf, Germany – Ratinger Hof
(* = with The Twilight Sad)
