Chicago, IL · indie rock · post-punk

Dehd

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Chicago trio playing wide-open, echoing guitar songs with two voices trading off and a genuine sense of space — heartbreak surf-rock with room to breathe.

Dehd began in 2015 as a side project pairing Jason Balla, then playing in a band called Dream Eagles, with Emily Kempf, who was in a group called Heavy Dreams; the combined name Dream Eagles Heavy Dreams was quickly shortened to Dehd. Eric McGrady joined on drums, working a stripped-down standing kit built around little more than snare, tom and cymbal.

Kempf and Balla split and trade vocals over reverb-heavy guitar and simple repeated figures, drawing on surf rock, post-punk and 1960s pop. Balla points to Cocteau Twins, Broadcast and Cate Le Bon as influences, while Kempf cites James Brown, Roy Orbison and Dolly Parton.

The band's self-titled debut came out in 2016 on Maximum Pelt, followed by the Fire of Love EP in 2017 on Infinity Cat, recorded with borrowed gear inside an old Frank Lloyd Wright warehouse. Their 2019 album Water, released on Fire Talk, included "Wild," later featured on the show Charmed, and the band toured Europe that year supporting fellow Chicago act Twin Peaks.

Flower of Devotion followed in 2020, its release delayed by the pandemic, and it earned a best new music nod from Pitchfork. The single "Bad Love" appeared on Fat Possum Records in 2022, continuing the band's run of releases on independent labels.

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indie rockpost-punk