Diagonal - Arc

Less is more’ is somewhat of a cliché but just ask Diagonal whether that rings true. Seven years on from 2012’s The Second Mechanism – the group’s second LP following their eponymous debut – they return as suddenly as they seemed to disappear, with arguably their finest effort to-date, Arc. It’s a record that maintains their effortlessly chameleonic shifts through Canterbury scene-indebted progressive rock, pulsing motorik and the spaced-out jazz expression; but where it really thrives is in its sense of spontaneity, imbibed from the quick and organic way that it came about.

After a hiatus filled with what can neatly be described as real life taking priority – families being started, relationships beginning and ending, people moved away – the shared head space for Diagonal to be able to return came naturally. Holing themselves up in Echo Zoo studios in Eastbourne on the south coast, the band came together with no expectations or even preparation. Giving themselves a week of solid writing and recording time, they’d jam together from morning until the early hours of the next one – a short, sharp period that allowed, for the first time in a while, a focus on nothing but music.