Dog Race - Return The Day

When a striking visual aesthetic and a striking sonic aesthetic coalesce this impressively, we have to sit up and take notice.

And on hearing that Dog Race’s magnetic debut EP was only available digitally, we at Dinked also had to jump on the opportunity to get it onto wax, as the next edition in our “Early Doors” series! These 5 tracks, from the London-based gothic five-piece, have had Ali Chant’s production wizardry applied and, with Katie’s operatic vocals drifting through modulated guitars and synths that crackle with unease, we’re left somewhere between The Cure’s bassy melancholy and Future Islands’ poppier modulations. Despite being cinematic, disquieting and uncomfortably honest, these songs are curiously catchy and lucid.

Dog Race, unveil a debut EP that drags you deep into the fog of burnout, co-dependency, and emotional stasis. Across five tracks, the band unspools the slow horror of fading joy and fractured identity, where insomnia bleeds into daylight and personal growth is sacrificed to keep others comfortable.

Following the stark theatrics of ‘It’s The Squeeze’ and the icy operatic swell of ‘The Leader', the EP pushes further into the dark. ‘Return The Day’ captures a band fully embracing psychological unrest and emotional paralysis. Dog Race may take their time, but they strike hard. 

"A soundscape born from sleepless nights, intrusive thoughts, and the quiet war between the mind and the world around me. Each track pulls at the threads of cultish beliefs and everyday expectations, exposing the weight they place on someone already battling inner turmoil."

FFO: The Cure | Chromatics | Bauhaus | Future Islands | Heartworms | Boy Harsher | Sextile

"Releasing our debut EP as a Dinked Edition means stepping into a world we’ve admired for years, so to be part of it now is genuinely surreal. Dinked has always felt like such a fresh and exciting way to discover new music, and the care and love poured into every release is something we’ve looked up to for a long time. To now be on the other side of that is incredibly special. Independent record shops have played a huge role in supporting artists like us, and it's been amazing to see physical media thrive again. Seeing Makeshift Art Bar in Dublin completely blew us away, so we're proud to be following in their footsteps as part of the ‘Early Doors’ series." - Dog Race