John O’Regan’s transformation into Diamond Rings is a fairly
well documented story by now.
Hospitalized in 2008 with Crohn’s disease, he began writing what would
become the original material under his new moniker. The 27 year old, who had previously been a
member of Toronto post-punk outfit The D'Urbervilles, was now creating glammed
up electro pop that pushed gender norms among other things. The physical pain that O’Regan dealt with in
the hospital had completely morphed him into this new character, and it was
this background that made his debut, Special
Affections, one of 2010’s most memorable releases. His second album Free Dimensional lacks the raw emotional punch that its predecessor
held in spades, and as a result Diamond Rings’ second LP ends up feeling very
workmanlike.
The upside to LP #2 is that it feels like it all fits
together. O’Regan does an excellent job
of fitting these tracks together and ultimately building a solid groove from
one end to the other. The flashy synths,
propulsive beats and shimmering guitars on each track tie into each other and
help relay the self-empowerment motif that Free
Dimensional aims for. Track titles
like ‘I’m Just Me’, and ‘Stand My Ground’ let the listener know that O’Regan
has now fully changed into his new persona, and he’s feeling just fine. The glam rock of ‘Runaway Love’ and the
pretty electro pop of opening track ‘Everything Speaks’ are particularly
memorable.
The major issue with this incarnation of Diamond Rings is
that everything feels too ordered and normal.
Special Affections was
unhinged and showed a man coming into his own as an individual. Now that he’s made that transition it feels
like O’Regan has become a somewhat complacent, choosing to write a bunch of
bland electro pop ballads (‘All the Time’, ‘I’m Just Me’, ‘(I Know) What I’m
Made Of’), that tell little of his life altering hospital stay and the rising
from the ashes he did afterwards.
The journey of self-discovery that defined Diamond Rings’
early work has faded from the material this time around. Instead O’Regan is quite comfortable in his
own skin, and perhaps that takes away some of the magic of his work. While he’s still a fine songwriter he’s lost
the emotional connection to his audience and mostly unmemorable Free Dimensional is the result.
Grade: C
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