The baritone of bells and shimmerย rain set the sceneโ€”humid and incantatory, deeply August soundsโ€”for “Deeper Love,” Dante High’s latest banger, and the first track from the band’s forthcoming album.ย 

From there, a sound of thunder builds in the distance, before it crackles, then bursts into full-fledged, disco-flecked, bold-faced-all-caps synth-pop.

It’s the kind of buildup, interspersed with the shrill of a phone ring,ย that evokesย Stranger Things vistas and motionless summer nights that have to be put into motion with fast-paced bike pedaling and adrenaline, lip gloss and second chances, youth, and nights thatย end with breaking into a neighborhood pool; music, in other words, that evokes what bandleader Ari Picker (formerly of Lost in the Trees) hasย called “parking lot soul.”ย 

So yes, it’s the kind of song that can only portend the ecstatic release of forthcomingย albumย Dante High II and a truly legendary release showโ€””The Revenge of Dante High”โ€”which is on the boardย for October 30 at Shakori Hills.

If early August’s stillness has a similar vibe to late October’s moodiness (and it does), then there can be few better ways to celebrate this new album than at a “Horror in the Hills” event that is set to include camping, a “drive-in” movie horror extravaganza, “haunted happenings,”ย axe-throwing (hopefully not haunted), costume contests, food trucks, and “terror card readings.”

Also in the lineup: performances by Skylar Gudasz, Shirlette Ammons, and more. Have you ever heard of a better revenge than that?

Watch the video for “Deeper Love” below.ย 

YouTube video

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Sarah Edwards is culture editor of the INDY, covering cultural institutions and the arts in the Triangle. She joined the staff in 2019 and assumed her current role in 2020.