Office Dog Released New Single & Video For “The Crater”

Office Dog will release their debut album, Spiel on 26th January via New West Records. Hailing from Auckland by way of Dunedin, Aotearoa/New Zealand, the trio is led by the critically acclaimed songwriter Kane Strang. The 12-song set was recorded over the course of two days, tracking into the early hours of the morning, and was produced by De Stevens (Marlin’s Dreaming).Spiel serves an introspective view on profound experiences, turmoil, and hopeful prospect. Uncut magazine have called it Strang’s “most focused and forceful record yet, recalling indie-rock power trios like Built to Spill and Dinosaur Jr.”

Amidst a busy solo career with acclaimed releases via the legendary Flying Nun Records and Dead Oceans, Strang formed Office Dog at the end of 2021. After moving from his hometown of Dunedin (home to The Chills, The Clean, The Verlaines, etc) to Auckland, Kane sought a more collaborative approach with drummer Mitchell Innes and bassist Rassani Tolovaa. Moving between Mitchell’s shed, Rassani & Kane’s residence, and the basement of a nearby church, the trio began writing together. Over the next year, fragments began assembling into songs, ultimately culminating in the creation of their debut album.

Prior to the band’s current composition, Kane found himself constantly shifting between Dunedin and Auckland due to a series of significant personal events. These emotional upheavals pivoted the original direction of Office Dog, transforming it from a lighthearted endeavor into something deeper. For Kane, Office Dog became somewhat of “a ladder out of a pretty rough spot.” The long car journeys between cities became a blank page for the songs’ lyrical content, which journal the interplay between light and darkness and reflect his emotional passage. 

Today, Magnet Magazine premiered the video for the album highlight, “The Crater.” The video was shot at the otherworldly Clay Cliffs, which are just outside Omarama, in the middle of the South Island. The stunning film was directed by Sophie Black and was made with the support of New Zealand On Air. Strang says, “We met there on about 4 hours sleep and trekked all of our gear up into the hills. The funny part is, it is actually an incredibly popular tourist attraction, so as soon as the sun was up, there were bus loads of people rolling through only to find a band playing the same song over and over in the middle of nowhere. In fact, behind almost every shot there was most likely about ten people walking past and taking photos of us.” 

Office Dog previously shared the video for the first single, “Big Air.” Finding immediate streaming success, the song has already generated more than 400k streams and the band has graced the cover of three top playlists at Spotify and TIDAL. The band also previously shared the video for the album highlight “Gleam” as well as the album track “In The Red” as well. 

Flying Nun Records released Spiel in Aotearoa/New Zealand and Australia while New West Records will release the album in the rest of the world on 26th January 2024.

Pre-order/streaming link HERE