Office Dog Announces New EP ‘Doggerland’ – New Single ‘Intact’ + Video Out Now

Office Dog present their new EP Doggerland, out on September 20 via Flying Nun Records in Aotearoa & Australia and New West Records everywhere else. The 7-song EP marks a shift for the band, leaning into softer textures and more experimental songwriting. Produced by De Stevens (Marlin’s Dreaming) at Roundhead Studios, the EP follows closely on the heels of their debut album, Spiel, which was released worldwide earlier this year to universal acclaim.

Pitchfork said “Office Dog submerges their brand of indie rock under scuzzy noise until the bubbles stop rising to the top… Spiel blows up the band’s deadpan vocals and raw guitar so that the tiny fragments that remain rain down like ash — unnerving and pretty simultaneously” while MOJO exclaimed “…so disregarding convention, it’s impossible to second guess where a song might go next. It may make for a rollercoaster musical ride, but it’s utterly thrilling.” Uncut said “the threesome manages to toe the very fine line between control and chaos, suppression and release” while Brooklyn Vegan said “The band’s style of spiky, deceptively complex guitar rock fits right in alongside classic Flying Nun groups like The Chills, Verlaines, and The 3Ds.”

Today, the band share the video for the first single, Intact.. (Listen Here) Strang says “I wrote the song just after Spiel came out. It was a time where it felt like a lot of different things were finally falling into place and this is definitely why it has a more uplifting feel to it than the songs on our first album. Like the rest of Doggerland, when it came to recording the song, we tried to experiment with making things more textural, but still not stray too far from the live sound of the band. This included re-amping a lot of the instrumentation to give it a more interesting feel and De also added some synthy drones underneath it all.” Of the accompanying clip, he adds, “The video was made with a bunch of close friends of the band in Dunedin, including director Daniel Blackball, who has done all of our album artwork so far. My childhood home actually used to back onto the abandoned racecourse we shot at, and I’ve been wanting to make something there since being back home this last year or so.”The Intact video was made with the generous support of NZ On Air.

Of the EP, Kane Strang says; “Doggerland is the name of a place in the northern hemisphere that was once inhabited by people and then completely submerged by the sea. Since themes of water, surfacing, and things like that were naturally appearing in my lyrics as we worked on these songs in late 2023, we named the EP after it. I’m glad we did because I feel like this word not only hints at the lyrical themes this time around but also at how these tracks are different sonically from Spiel and other songs we’ve done – they’re definitely softer, more fluid and spontaneous.”

Amidst a busy solo career with acclaimed releases, Kane Strang formed Office Dog at the end of 2021. After temporarily moving from his hometown of Dunedin (home to The Chills, The Clean, Verlaines, etc) to Auckland, he sought a more collaborative approach with drummer Mitchell Innes and bassist Rassani Tolovaa. Over the next year, fragments began assembling into songs, ultimately culminating in the creation of their debut album. Live appearances supporting Dinosaur Jr. and Sleater-Kinney quickly followed and the band was also named Te Rōpū Mariu (Favourite Group) at the beloved Student Radio Network Awards in 2023. Finding immediate streaming success, the Spiel single Big Air quickly generated more than 500k streams and the band graced the cover of multiple top playlists at Spotify and Tidal.

Office Dog will also support label-mates Nada Surf on their first ever North American tour. Launching October 2 with two shows in Washington, DC, the 15-date trek features stops at Webster Hall in NYC, Thalia Hall in Chicago, The Crocodile in Seattle, WA, the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco, and culminates at the legendary Troubadour in Los Angeles.

Doggerland will be released on 20 September 2024 via Flying Nun Records / New West Records on limited clear vinyl and across all streaming platforms.

Photo Credit: Violet Hirst