Dummy—the Los Angeles-based band of Alex Ewell, Emma Maatman, Nathan O’Dell, Joe Trainor, and Lance Umble—announce the new album, do you love the color of the sky?, out October 16th via Polyvinyl, with lead single/video “Full Spectrum Dominance” and a fall North American tour. With do you love the color of the sky? Dummy crafts the perfect anti-zeitgeist record, freezing you into their incorporeal moment of time, freed from the rat race and trendiness, embracing insularity to the point that it somehow becomes the future.
If 2024’s Free Energy (and its subsequent remix album, Bubbelibrium DLC) evoked the spirit of Madchester and the optimism of the rave, then do you love the color of the sky? couches itself in a lyrical skepticism that recalls the best of post-rock and drone—think Seefeel, Windy and Carl, Laika, or Disco Inferno—while playfully adorned in jubilant pop hues of early Björk, The Sundays, and Madonna’s Ray of Light.
do you love the color of the sky? is Dummy’s most politically trenchant record, and yet their most inviting. Breakbeats and the captivating voice of keyboardist Emma belie a sleight hand—as the listener becomes enveloped by Dummy’s unshakable grooves, they’ve subconsciously accrued a vision of a new radical politic. Lead single “Full Spectrum Dominance,” for example, comments on A.I. and the devaluation of art. Guitarist Joe comments, “ I was trying to make something just heavier, and we joked it was our nu metal song, during the recording we added the tambourine that gives it a more dancey vibe, Deee- Lite meets Deftones.”
Emma adds, “This is the Technofeudalism bop. Tech billionaires are treating AI like the new Alchemy, using it as a source of power and magic. This supposedly soon-to-be all-powerful technology could not exist without harvesting all of humanity’s intellectual property and collective work. ‘Prima Materia’ is the building block of all alchemical matter, so in the canon of the song, we humans are the Prima Materia.”
The accompanying video directed and animated by Matt Wells (POST MAN) is an experimental montage of 3D animation, found imagery, and motion graphics exploring AI as a modern form of alchemy. Wells drew on the fears and frustrations surrounding the rise of A.I. and its hostile attempt to erode the human experience. Aesthetically, the video is inspired by everything from late 90’s UK music videos and cyberpunk films to early CGI demonstration.
Watch the Video for “Full Spectrum Dominance”
Despite all the allusions to futurism, Dummy are a classic band. Not in the retrofetishist, nostalgia- trapping sense, but in their work ethic and commitment to the music. As Joe recalls of their time since the release of Free Energy, “We toured a lot, around 150 days, and played approximately 113 shows,” with numerous treks around the US and two trips to Europe, “…and on larger stages than ever before,” Alex adds. “Touring has had a huge impact on us and our music.” That is a staggering amount of touring and roadtripping, a feat that can only be achieved if you truly believe in your art and the power of music itself. It stands to reason, then, that their latest release has also completely shucked the idea of being recreated cleanly in the live setting.
“Making music shouldn’t be fun.” It’s a haughty claim, but when Dummy jokingly asserts this, it comes from a sentiment of earnestness and true love for the game. The blood, sweat, and tears of ‘putting in the work’ is what propels do you love the color of the sky? to a triumph—a byproduct of shedding skins through live performance. It’s not a vast departure from their discography, unmistakably them, and yet constitutes a creative leap forward which almost sounds effortless from the group. It’s a treat to witness a band this creatively in-tune with themselves, whose experiments and ideas always hit, who, when they describe a concept, actually stick the landing. Maybe the future of music comes with the type of deep self-actualization Dummy possesses.
Pre-order do you love the color of the sky?
do you love the color of the sky? Tracklist:
1. April Limousine
2. Alluvial Fan
3. Full Spectrum Dominance
4. Squeaky Wheel
5. Touch the Perfect Speed
6. Song of Mana
7. Omen Globe
8. C.B.B.S.I.M.M.P.W.M.
9. N of 1
10. Heaven’s What You Make of It
Dummy Tour Dates:
Tue. Oct. 13 – Fresno, CA @ Tower Lounge *
Wed. Oct. 14 – San Francisco, CA @ The Chapel *
Thu. Oct. 15 – Sacramento, CA @ Café Colonial *
Fri. Oct. 16 – Reno, NV @ Holland Project *
Sat. Oct. 17 – Arcata, CA @ Miniplex w/ Dilies
Tue. Oct. 20 – Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios *
Thu. Oct. 22 – Vancouver, BC @ The Wise *
Fri. Oct. 23 – Seattle, WA @ Tractor Tavern *
Sat. Oct. 24 – Boise, ID @ Neurolux *
Mon. Oct. 26 – Salt Lake City, UT @ International Bar *
Tue. Oct. 27 – Denver, CO @ Hi-Dive *
Wed. Nov. 4 – Los Angeles, CA @ Sid The Cat Ballroom
* = w/ Golomb
Keep your mind open.
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[Thanks to Patrick at Pitch Perfect PR.]
