(photo: Robin Sharp)

Anyone familiar with Toronto’s Bellwoods music scene is already well aware of The  D’Urbervilles, whose debut album, We Are the Hunters came out in 2008.  There hasn’t been much new music from the band in the last year, but that hasn’t meant the member have been dormant.  his past summer, John O’Regan, the band’s vocalist and guitarist, emerged as Diamond Rings and put a little sparkle and shine back into the Toronto music scene.  Billed on Myspace as “an emotional outlet” for one John O., Diamond Rings’ electro-based glam-pop grabbed the attention of Pitchfork (naming first single “All Yr Songs” Best New Music), and oddly enough, Sony BMG Music who got the video for “All Yr Songs” pulled from YouTube for some alleged copyright infringement.  The odd part is that the song is an original and its sample-free.  Sony later retracted the claim, but offered no real reason as to why it happened in the first place.  The video was posted by its director Colin Medley, and is now back online and available for all to see.

Diamond Rings is releasing a new single in the new year, and plans for a full-length are well under way, along with a slate of performances, including a stint at SxSW in Austin this March.

MP3: Diamond Rings “All Yr Songs”
Video: Diamond Rings “All Yr Songs”
Myspace: Diamond Rings