Applied Communications – donna deegan: Quirky Experimental Pop with Lo-Fi VHS Charm

The opening of donna deegan introduces a breathy wind-instrument sound, a cor anglais?, before shifting quickly into something altogether quirkier. Max Wood, recording as Applied Communications, delivers a playful piece of experimental pop, with distinctive vocals, offbeat instrumentation and a deliberately rough-edged production.

The vocal delivery is particularly interesting, moving between melodic fragments and a slightly exaggerated, conversational style. There’s a loose, lo-fi quality to the arrangement, with sounds jostling for space rather than settling into a conventional pop structure. It has a scrappy charm, helped by the feeling that the music doesn’t take itself too seriously.

The accompanying video is equally entertaining, drawing on a retro VHS aesthetic with an appropriately grainy, home-video feel. Its visual approach works well with the music’s oddball character and gives the whole thing an appealingly homemade quality.

Lyrically, the track takes inspiration from a colourful story associated with Wood’s hometown of Jacksonville, Florida. The subject is handled with a sense of humour, adding another dimension to a song that seems happy to embrace its own eccentricities.

Released on 9 September 2026 through Bar/None Records, donna deegan is taken from Applied Communications’ first full-length album in over twenty years. It’s an enjoyable, slightly chaotic return, combining experimental pop, unusual sounds and a healthy disregard for polish.