With slots on the main stages at Reading and Leeds, tour dates with Kasabian, and their own tour underway, it’s only right that Australian trio DMA’S have a high octane release (How Many Dreams?) to go with what promises to be an exciting year.
Picking up where their 2020 release, The Glow, left off, this album is a heady mix of experimental electronic elements and the classic acoustic guitar laden tracks. Through How Many Dreams?, the Australian outfit invites listeners to get lost in twelve sharp, captivating tracks which show them at their most stylistically bold and confident in their sound and its ongoing evolution.
The eponymous album opener and its follow up track (and previous single) ‘Olympia’ are energetic summertime beats, underpinned by soaring synths, riveting riffs and the charming Aussie drawl of frontman Tommy O’Dell. Not the most daring of album openers, but they serve as a reminder that if there’s one thing DMA’S are good at, it’s creating songs that make for an extremely enjoyable listen.
Previous single (and arguably the best song title on the album) ‘Everybody’s Saying Thursday’s The Weekend’ is a fine example of a DMAs track, packed with a stadium ready chorus and attention grabbing hooks.
There are moments of experimentation throughout the album, from The Verve-esque ‘Forever’, to the slow burner ‘Get Ravey’ and the twinkling piano opening notes of ‘Jai Alai’, proving that they are not afraid to musically take a risk and – in doing so – provide plenty of surprises along the way.
Energetic floor-filler ‘Something We Are Overcoming’ bursts with confidence, as they revert back to the sound they started with. This leads into the final track, ‘De Carle’, a short, electronic song with minimal lyrics or instrumentals – a complete sidestep from their traditional sound but there’s something intoxicating about it, until the final “we can be forever” is drawn out.
It’s daring and bold but in this, their fourth album, the trio are dusting off the shackles of the pandemic and racing head on into their next era which is as exciting to listen to as it probably was to create.
Words by Jen Rose
Support The Indiependent
We’re trying to raise £200 a month to help cover our operational costs. This includes our ‘Writer of the Month’ awards, where we recognise the amazing work produced by our contributor team. If you’ve enjoyed reading our site, we’d really appreciate it if you could donate to The Indiependent. Whether you can give £1 or £10, you’d be making a huge difference to our small team.