DiHaj catches rays of light in “The End Of Sunrise”

The Azerbaijani 2017 Eurovision representative Diana and her indie-pop band DiHaj have truly delivered on their latest album titled “The End Of Sunrise”.
The album has a very current and fresh sound yet somehow manages to pull the strings of 80’s and 90’s nostalgia.
We should also mention that her Eurovision entry “Skeletons” isn’t a part of the line-up, which is totally understandable from an aesthetic point of view. The hugely popular Eurovision entry wouldn’t incorporate well in this selection of songs.
Diana describes her band’s sound as:

“Ethereal guitar sequences, melancholic breathy vocals punctuated by progressive drum patterns createing a peculiar sonic texture”

This results in an interesting music genre they call – immersive doom pop.

The Promotion of “The End Of Sunrise”

The nine tracks of T.E.O.S were first performed for a live audience during an organized promo concert on the 14th of July in the Green Theater, Baku.
The event was closely followed by the Azerbaijani music scene, and renowned names such as Isfar Sarabski and Elnur Huseynov were at attendance.

A journey of easy listening – “The End Of Sunrise”

The 9 songs in the album are strategically yet thoughtfully placed in a running order, beginning with “Complain” and ending with “Outro”.
The first track effectively puts a visual of what the album is trying to achieve as it goes. “Complain” is basically a lover’s report starting off with a misunderstanding and ending with a reconciliation.
The tempo of the album gradually speeds up.
“Beans” is a nice transition from the very jazzy feeling of “Complain” to the following emotional“Lynch” in contrast.
“T.E.O.S” gives a very contemporary touch to the line-up, contrasting all the tracks coming before it.
The fifth song on this album is titled “Loveseat” and it sounds rather lost coming after “The End Of The Sunrise”, despite having all the attributes of a standout single.
“Oilish”  is a full instrumental track. The very mystical feeling makes it a perfect breather on the album. This song sets the tone of what is to come in the last 3 songs of “The End Of Sunrise”.
Which brings us to “Rainbow”. A very modern and fresh song that DiHaj should consider making a single out of.
“4 Chords” can be described as the musical tamer. This 90’s sounding song feels rather out of place in the line-up. Although, it has a beautifully melancholic instrumental break towards the end.
The musical journey of Diana and her band comes to an end with the hauntingly beautiful and somewhat ethnic sounding “Outro”. This song truly showcases raw emotion and Diana executes the vocal parts beautifully.

DiHaj’s Eurovision experience

Despite being a fan favorite early on, the Azerbaijani songstress only scored 120 points. Thus, she finished a respectable 14th in this year’s final.
→What our team had to say about DiHaj’s entry “Skeletons”←
Listen to “The End Of Sunrise” here:
https://open.spotify.com/album/5ZbnsSWHOXSvowVkJMiZOs
Have you listened to “The End Of Sunrise”? Do you have a favorite track from the album? Would you like to see Azerbaijan experiment and send something similar at Eurovision?  Let us know in the comments section below!