Dirty Nice

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

“mind-bending” Rolling Stone

“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 cartoon indie / alternative duo Dirty Nice release their second album Surrenderland today via Chiverin. They’ll celebrate the release with a headline show at London’s The Waiting Room on December 7th.

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).

Final single ‘Lined Paper Daydreams’ comes with the album release - on the track Charlie explains:

"When I was younger, I used to fill the margins of my school books with entire worlds of nonsense. It was a way of escaping the restrictive lines on the page and a place to explore the weirdness of growing up. In recent years I rediscovered the power of doodling and that’s what inspired this song."

The duo’s 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. As they explain with recourse to the new album:

‘Surrenderland’ is both a physical place in time and also a state of mind. It acted as a guiding principle for the making of the record, leaning into our instincts and interests, with both the cartoon visuals and the music influencing each other’s processes. 

We wanted to follow the fun with this album, not overthinking and naturally letting our love for noughties indie influences creep in. This led to a vibrant and joyous celebration of acceptance in one’s self, exploring themes of growing up without stifling the inner child and giving yourself over to the people around you wholeheartedly. Surrenderland is being yourself.“

Dirty Nice began revealing this sophomore LP early in the summer with a duo of double-A releases which began painting the background of Surrenderland  - ‘Shoes’/ ‘Henriette’ and ‘This Is Gonna Hurt’ / ‘Sophie, What’s Up?’ launched with Rolling Stone and The FADER respectively.

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, they further expand the weird and wonderful world of Dirty Nice that all began with the music. 

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).

Florence Pugh has come out as a fan of Dirty Nice while speaking on the VOGUE podcast. Collaborations with Wet Leg - who contributed backing vocals to their ‘Sunshine End Times’ single - as well as Desta French and Bad Sounds have also expanded their horizons along the way.