Diamond Rings takes leap forward after Juno-nominated debut album

TORONTO – Diamond Rings’ John O’Regan is used to making flashy entrances, so there seemed something natural in the way he confidently stomped onto the scene three years ago, an indie-rocker-turned androgynous glam diva with a set of catchy pop tunes stuffed up his studded sleeve.

His debut, “Special Affections,” earned international critical hat-tips along with award recognition (a Juno nod for best new artist) and a roster of new career opportunities (including a tour with Swedish pop iconoclast Robyn).

But to hear O’Regan tell it, that record featured a songwriter and performer who was still in the embryonic stages of his development.

“The last album was very much a product of my limitations as an artist, as a composer, as a musician,” O’Regan said in a recent interview from a dimly lit poolhall, clad in a red leather jacket with slim black jeans and matching Nike high-tops.

“It was a bit of a grab bag at (the) start and I think that’s how it had to be. I was finding and exploring a different side of myself and just having fun with it, you know? It wasn’t really intended to be something other than something for my friends, something to keep me busy. Something fun to do.”

Well, Diamond Rings certainly did keep O’Regan busy. And after spending the past three years touring extensively, writing new songs and refining his unique style, O’Regan feels his second record, “Free Dimensional,” is a far more fully formed document.

For one thing, teamed with acclaimed Bjork producer Damian Taylor, O’Regan’s fizzy confections have been given the headphone-filling heft they always deserved.

Aside from glossy standout “Runaway Love,” which glides atop a sheet of perfectly polished guitars, most of the tunes here are powered by sparkling synths, including atmospheric opener “Everything Speaks,” ’80s-redolent triumph “Put Me On” and shimmering dance ditty “Stand My Ground.” All are well-suited O’Regan’s elegantly detached baritone.

It might be natural to see Diamond Rings’ retro sensibility and self-consciously eccentric style and assume that everything he does is drenched in irony.

But in fact, his lyrics are often disarmingly earnest. On “Free Dimensional,” he’s mostly concerned with questions of love and self-identity. It’s familiar territory for O’Regan, but he hopes he approached it differently this time.

“I think the first album also addresses those themes, but in a way that’s far less confident,” he said. “I was trying to really sharpen the blade and really cut to the heart of the matter on this album, I guess.”

If his sophomore record provided an opportunity to hone his musical vision, it did the same for O’Regan’s sense of style.

Where he once gleefully mashed together elements of glittering glam excess, ’90s street style and pop flamboyance into a glow-in-the-dark pastiche, he’s refined that into a more chic, stark esthetic.

Still, in the plaid-and-denim world of indie rock, O’Regan stands out. Actually, with his towering height (he’s a former basketball player), platinum pompadour and the studded duds of an electro-pop futurist, O’Regan stands out pretty much anywhere.

That’s the point. And it still chafes O’Regan that some music fans believe that style and substance are, to some extent, mutually exclusive.

“There’s this assumption especially within the independent community that an artist who has the gall to admit that they care about their appearance is somehow skimping on the music side of things,” he said.

“There’s this idea that to care about how you look means that you’re not truly a serious artist or songwriter. I obviously don’t believe that. If anything, it’s like twice as much work.”

The past years have certainly provided a test of O’Regan’s dedication to his unorthodox look.

Playing far from his Ontario home to audiences totally unfamiliar with Diamond Rings — typically clad in an intentionally provocative outfit, colourful makeup smeared across his face — can be a trying experience, particularly in less-progressive parts of the world.

“It’s a bit scary,” he said. “Especially if you need to duck out to the convenience store for batteries for your guitar pedals before the gig, and you don’t have time to change into clothes that are probably less likely to get you punched in the face. But I think that’s why people give a (crap) about what I do. I’m being honest.

“People want to see something different as much as they want to hear something different,” he added. “To do that effectively, I think there has to be a risk involved.”

Very few artists outside fashion-forward pop pinups put as much energy into an overall esthetic as Diamond Rings, and indeed everything about the project — from O’Regan’s infectious tunes to his outsized onstage persona — seems geared toward big stages, big moments and, maybe, big audiences.

And he’s not shy about that ambition.

“I want it to be as big as possible,” he said. “I think that’s the honest answer and it has nothing to do with feeding into my own ego or making piles of money.

“It just has to do with my desire to take Diamond Rings to its logical conclusion, which is a fully realized, spectacular show.”

In a way, that attitude gets at a contradiction that’s central to Diamond Rings.

On the one hand, his is a carefully constructed persona, shrouded in artifice, but on the other, he’s more open about his intentions than many artists.

“It’s very easy to pretend not to care — and it’s easy to, because it affords you an out should things not go the way you planned,” he said. “But to get up on stage and have the keyboard player and guitar player match, and have your hair done, and make these really forthright and honest compositions, it’s pretty clear where my intentions lie. My intention is to connect with people more than anything.

“There’s no way I could sit here and claim that I don’t care if people don’t like what I do. I want people to like it. I want them to feel good about listening to my music.

“That’s why people should make music, in my opinion.”