Premiere: DIIV's Colin Caulfield Releases His Ethereal, Heartfelt Song "Second to None"

Ambient, ethereal, and aching, DIIV band member Colin Caulfield’s new single “Second to None” is just the right mix of brooding and tenderness.

Stream: “Second to None” – Colin Caulfield

Ambient, ethereal, and aching, Colin Caulfield’s new single is just the right mix of tenderness and brooding. “Second to None” finds the DIIV band member reaching new heights in his solo artistry, weaving listeners through a poignant and buoyant patchwork of sound that moves, grooves, and haunts with raw, heavy sentiment.

Atwood Magazine is proud to be premiering “Second to None,” the latest single from DIIV’s Colin Caulfield. Best known as the bassist, keyboardist, and multi-instrumentalist for Brooklyn-based alternative band DIIV, Caulfield began releasing solo material in 2017 and has been releasing one to two songs per year ever since. “Second to None” follows last February’s groovy release “Get to the Point,” and truly sets the stage for exciting things to come from Caulfield in the very near future.

“My name is Colin Caulfield and I’m a musician/singer living in L.A.,” the artist shares with Atwood Magazine. “You may know me from DIIV because I’ve been in that band since 2013, which is sick. Soon, I hope you will know me for the music I make under my name too. My songs are some sort of combination of early 2000s pop, soul, cynicism and legitimate sincerity. I write about love, regret, assholes, communication breakdowns, my family, apathy, daily routines, and maintaining optimism in the face of unending contemporary bullshit.”

“Second to None” is a dark, brooding, and hopeful – an intimate musical soliloquy that speaks to so many of the feelings we’re all going through right now.

The accompanying video finds Caulfield sitting down, alone with his electric guitar, gently spilling his soul in song.

“I wrote this song in 2018 after hearing about a string of drug overdoses in the NYC artist community,” Caulfield explains. “Time goes by and death unfortunately becomes normal. All you can do is reach out to the people you still have and cherish your time with them. ‘Second to None’ is about needing to tell someone you care about them and how sometimes it takes something terrible to remind us of what’s important.”

Born out of pain and hardship, “Second to None” offers a deep sigh of relief in its cathartic expression of empathy, nostalgia, and heartfelt emotion.

While without a doubt a DIIV soundalike in some ways, Caulfield distinguishes his art thanks to his own brand of compelling songwriting, his sweet vocals, and a strain of ethereal indie pop elements that give his songs space and levity his music.

While DIIV are still going strong – the band’s third album Deceiver released in October 2019 via Captured Tracks – Colin Caulfield has had his own independent streak for some time now, and it’s getting time for him to reveal whatever magic he’s got hidden up his sleeve. “Second to None” marks the beginning of his new journey with a bleeding heart and soulful, sweet caress against the cheek. Stream Colin Caulfield’s new single exclusively on Atwood Magazine!

— —