Trip Pop Meets Aquamarine Angst: After’s “Deep Diving”
Nostalgia finds its way to your ears
via @aftertheband
If one thing is clear about the 2020s, it’s that pop culture is running after the beginning of this millennium with a whimsical butterfly net. From red carpet homages to chart-topping singles built on samples of already-iconic tracks, we’re in a loop of chasing memories. Music, especially, is echoing back to a time when MySpace ruled.
But nostalgia is also a beautiful thing—psychology studies suggest that it is not just indulgent but essential as we navigate the uncertainty and stress of growing up. Nostalgia grounds us in who we once were and how far we’ve come, functioning as a kind of emotional anchor.
I think most of us can admit that we’re still chasing the high of listening to bôa’s “Duvet” for the first time. Let’s face it: we’re all just trying to feel something familiar again (cue the distant hum of a CD in your parents’ car). And while much of the Y2K revival can feel like a shallow skim, some artists are diving deeper.
Enter After, the California-based trip pop duo made up of Graham Epstein and Justine Dorsey. Their latest release, “Deep Diving,” is exactly what the title promises: an immersive plunge into dreamy textures, late-night introspection, and subtly aquatic melancholia. The track swims in ambient synths, lo-fi drum loops, and vocals that sound like they were recorded underwater (in the best way).
“Deep Diving” sits somewhere between the velvet haze of Mazzy Star and the wistful cool of early Imogen Heap, with a glimmer of mid-2000s indie. It’s a mood piece, but also a time capsule. Music has always had the uncanny ability to act like a time machine, and this track is no exception–it transports listeners to a place they know and feel safe in. Just listening to it, I can visualize the credits of a coming-of-age teen film from 2004.
“It’s 2007, I have my iPod on shuffle and I’m walking down my street, eyeliner smudging.”
Earlier this year, After teased their self-titled EP on Instagram, and the response was instant. One user distilled the vibe perfectly in a comment: “It’s 2007, I have my iPod on shuffle and I’m walking down my street, eyeliner smudging.” That image might as well be the band’s entire mission statement.
The comments don’t stop there. Just scroll through the comments on the band’s Instagram, and it’s clear that “Deep Diving” has struck a collective chord. One listener calls it “the perfect dose of escapism we need in music now,” while another says, “This reminds me of everything I’ve ever enjoyed.”
These aren’t just compliments—they’re testimonies. Perhaps the most telling came from a fan who wrote: “Thank you for making something that makes me feel like I’m back in 2005 in the backseat of my mom’s van getting groceries, but now it’s me driving my beat up Toyota getting my own groceries, full circle.” That’s the quiet magic of After–they soundtrack the full-circle moments of growing up, where the past and present blur.
While some artists are content to wear nostalgia like a costume, After uses it like a lens. What makes “Deep Diving” land so deeply is that it doesn’t copy the early 2000s–it interprets it. That’s reverence, not replication.
At its most powerful, nostalgia isn’t about going backwards. It’s about reconnecting with who we were when life felt simpler, even clearer. After isn’t just mimicking the past—they’re reviving the feeling of being young, lost, and beautifully unsure. In lieu of merely releasing songs, After is creating a sonic anchor that we can hold onto.
So, if you’re longing for something that sounds like memory but doesn’t feel recycled, “Deep Diving” is worth the plunge. After isn’t interested in surface-level nostalgia, they’re building a world where every echo means something—and maybe, if you listen closely, you’ll hear a piece of your old self singing back.