DahL Dive into the Unknown with “High Tide,” a Haunting Nautical Odyssey

Montreal-based art rock trio DahL unveil their arresting new single, “High Tide” — a nautical fugitive romance that sails straight into the imagination. Equal parts prison break and polar expedition, the track anchors the listener, drags them under, and refuses to let go. Blending literary influence, sonic experimentation, and cinematic storytelling, “High Tide” finds DahL at their most daring and dreamlike yet.

Inspired by Atlas of Remote Islands by Judith Schalansky, “High Tide” conjures a bleak escape story set on a fragment of land surrounded by wreckage, penguins, and saltwater static. The song follows a silent passenger — Hightide — as the narrator delivers a fragmented, feverish monologue of exile and flight. The identities of these castaways remain uncertain: prisoners, explorers, or simply stranded souls. What remains is their grim camaraderie, soaked in isolation and nautical tension.

Formed in 2014 after the dissolution of their former project Oliverthegreat, DahL have steadily evolved into one of Montreal’s most distinctive and unpredictable acts. The trio — Nassir Liselle (Anthony McLachlan), Bryan Greenfield, and Edward Scrimger — merge elements of post-punk, R&B, and ‘90s trip-hop into something fluid, fearless, and socially charged. Their music unfolds less like songs and more like fever dreams, where sound design and narrative coexist in surreal harmony.

Following the critical acclaim of their 2024 debut LP That’s It — praised by CULT MTL and Exclaim! — DahL have continued to carve their own path through art rock’s experimental fringe. Their live performances, shared with acts like Suuns and FACS, have earned them a reputation for intensity and unpredictability. Fresh from their international debut at New York’s New Colossus Festival, the band are now poised to expand their reach with “High Tide,” a song that encapsulates both their ambition and their refusal to play by genre rules.

The title “High Tide” refers to this ambiguous companion — part name, part mood, part cipher. “Maybe the two characters were prisoners. Maybe they were explorers who became stranded. Maybe the island itself was the prison. They may have once been friends, or even lovers, but none of that is spelled out,” explains frontperson guitarist/vocalist Nassir Liselle. “Hightide is a presence more felt than heard – a rising pressure, a pull toward movement, a sense that something is about to break.”

That sense of mounting unease threads through every beat of the song. Recorded at Studio Saint Zo in Montreal with producer Monty Munro (Preoccupations), “High Tide” was built piece by piece, accumulating its weight and mystery over time. The creative process, as Liselle describes, was both liberating and confounding. “Someone asked Monty, ‘So what does this song sound like?’” recalls Liselle. “He paused, nodded thoughtfully, and said, ‘I have no idea… but I like it.’ That was the moment I put my head in my hands. Deep down, we were trying to make something accessible, and somehow ended up in this strange, emotionally-charged grey zone that doesn’t quite behave. Classic us.”

Stylistically, “High Tide” strips away some of DahL’s usual sequenced layers in favor of a more physical, tactile sound. The focus shifts to percussion and bass, grounding the song in an earthy tension that mirrors the band’s live performances. Atmospheric textures still swirl like mist around the edges, but the result feels more immediate — as if the listener has stumbled into the recording room mid-take.

With “High Tide,” DahL continue to blur the boundaries between narrative and noise, between art and emotion. It’s a track that doesn’t seek to explain itself, only to be experienced — an evocative story set to the rhythm of waves, memory, and longing. In its strange beauty and restlessness, “High Tide” captures what makes DahL so compelling: a band unafraid to drift toward the unknown, no matter how turbulent the waters may be.