Dirty Nice

"mind-bending" Rolling Stone  

“charming mix of off-kilter melodies and classic songwriting chops” The FADER

“weird and wonderful” i-D | “Now Hear This” The Independent 

“vivid synth pop” The Times | “whimsical, playful” MTV | "upbeat wave of enthusiasm" DORK 

“glorious, strange, and downright addictive” The Line of Best Fit | “pop gems” DIY 

Off-beat alt-pop duo Dirty Nice continue their early summer assault with a second double-A release of 2023. ‘Shoes’ and ‘Henriette’ follow The FADER acclaimed ‘This Is Gonna Hurt’ and ‘Sophie, What’s Up?’ and add another chapter to their whimsical oeuvre.  

Dirty Nice is ‘Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared’ composer Charlie Pelling’s musical project, with Lisbon based musician Mark Thompson. Pelling is fast becoming the go to composer in the UK comedy scene working with the likes of 2022 Edinburgh Comedy Award winner Sam Campbell and BAFTA winner Jamie Demetriou (Stath Lets Flats, Fleabag). 

Their technicolour world exists in the space between earthy personal vignettes and cartoonish uncanniness. In an age where every band/artist has to also be a content creator Charlie & Mark decided to lean into their interests of cartoons and comedy. In the last year they have amassed a cult online following into the hundreds of thousands across Tiktok, Instagram and Reddit for their creative animations, voicing and animating a whole host of eccentric characters themselves, further expanding the weird and wonderful world of Dirty Nice that all began with the music.  

‘Shoes’ leads the release, accompanied by a video set in the aforementioned bizarro animated world. Think Charli xcx’s iconic ‘Boys’ video, but with anthropomorphised footwear and you’re not far off the mark. Thematically - there’s a simple, breezy message behind the track, matching the late May release date:

“’Shoes’ is what you dance to with the person you love so much that both your lives have become one intangible, jiggling blob; since the first kiss you’ve been dancing in each others shoes.”

2021's debut album Lobster won the band fans across all media, with critical acclaim at press (MTV, i-D, The Independent, The Times, Notion, Wonderland, Complex, DIY, Clash, DORK Magazine, The Line of Best Fit) and radio (Jack Saunders on Radio 1, Steve Lamacq, Chris Hawkins on BBC Radio 6 Music). 

Even Florence Pugh has come out as a fan of Dirty Nice while speaking on the VOGUE podcast, and they recently brought their live show to the airwaves for a BBC session at the renowned Maida Vale studios. 

Tours with Dâm Funk, Elder Island, Cousin Kula and collaborations with Wet Leg - who contributed backing vocals to their ‘Sunshine End Times’ single - as w