CREDIT: DIAMOND RINGS WILL BE AT CALL THE OFFICE ON NOVEMBER 28.
Norman Wong

I write about random things a lot. I write a lot about random things. Did you know that the sleepover scene in the movie Grease in which Stockard Channing sings about Elvis Presley was filmed on August 16, 1977 — the very day the former heartthrob passed away?

Film soundtracks are remarkable things by their very nature. That a passage of music should not only elevate a moment but also encapsulate a memory is an incredible feat, so it's little wonder that people are forever endeared to musical films like Grease or any other — that personal connection is strengthened by the powerful memories attached to the music.

Such is the case with Free Dimensional, the sophomore album by Diamond Rings — Toronto's John O'Regan — released October 23 on Secret City Records. Much like the soundtrack to an old favourite film, the album plays on your ear and compels you on a chemical level to provide the experience to make new memories of your own.

As an art form, music can be so wonderfully paradoxical when it's approached intelligently and creatively. With this album, O'Regan marries his pensive, vulnerable writing style with a matured yet understated musical vocabulary, retaining that introspective quality while shaping broader, bolder musical landscapes. Diamond Rings brings the music and the experience to London for an appearance at Call The Office on November 28.

"I wanted the first album to have that homespun quality," he explained, his decision to explore musically on Free Dimensional rooted in his growing comfort with the tools at his disposal. "A big part of being afraid of something is not understanding it ... once I became more comfortable with the medium of electronic music, it was only natural to want to improve."

Diamond Rings' success and growth will come as little surprise to those who have had the foresight to pay attention to his career here in Southern Ontario over the past few years. From his beginnings in Guelph in bands like The D'Urbervilles or releasing a split EP with PS I Love You to highprofile gigs at Yonge-Dundas Square during NXNE or supporting Robyn on her North American tour, O'Regan has been steadily growing in notoriety on an international level.

Impressed by Diamond Rings' journey to date, producer Damian Taylor (Björk, Austra, Robyn) was happy for the opportunity to work with O'Regan, professing a deep respect for his desire to grow and employ new tools "while keeping his music honest and emotionally resonant."

"That was a big part of this whole experience," O'Regan explained. "Coming to terms with the fact that I wanted to make something direct and impactful, and that I could trust other people to help me do it, but at the end of the day it would still feel like me."

Released almost two years to the day after his first album, Free Dimensional debuted on The Hype Machine on the power of two singles, "I'm Just Me" and "Runaway Love," which was filmed in Montreal. In recent weeks, Diamond Rings has performed "I'm Just Me" as a guest of both David Letterman and Jay Leno, a well-deserved opportunity to broadcast his message to a wider audience.

For that reason, missing this show at Call The Office would be a crime! It isn't likely that a worldclass artist like Diamond Rings will be playing cozier venues like that for long, so don't miss the chance while you have it. Tickets for the November 28 19-plus show are $12 in advance through ticketscene.ca, doors open at 9 pm.

For more on Diamond Rings or the new album, visit diamondringsmusic.com or follow along on Twitter @diamondrings. Free Dimensional is widely available in stores and online, as well as available on music subscription services and streaming sites now.

And for more of the latest in music news, views and streams, consider following this column on Twitter @fsu_bobbyisms. Here's hoping you Mo Brothas and Mo Sistas are hanging in there, stay strong for a great cause. I'm out of words.