Dummy

For the past few years, Dummy has been hammering a divide between reimagining the past and etching the future. Among a new crop of shoegaze acolytes, the band stands out for a dedication to injecting rave and rhythm into the foggy folds of the genre. The new album pushes those instincts even further. Where the last record rifled through the tattered ends of Madchester, flirting with Chapterhouse, The Charlatans, and The Mondays, the new record digs deeper into that era’s exit door into dance culture. From the outset there’s a willingness to let loping rhythms turn dizzy, tossing listeners into the whirlpool; a heady crush of color and corrosion. The band finds footing through early experimentalists like Björk and Tricky, fusing their fervor for fragmented rhythms through fogged forests of guitar and prismatic keys.

The record’s no dalliance in decadence, though. Under the dancefloor beams a beacon of modern discontent. While Emma Maatman and Nathan O’Dell bring a constantly unflappable vocal demeanor, tales of climate crumble, technological dystopia, and government overreach slip through the seams of their works. Like a poison pill, candy-coated and slipped with ease, Dummy find a new balance here between dissociative bliss and disenchantment. The latter never sours the record’s thrall, though. Even if the lyrical list washes over the listener, the sonic tapestry remains an impeccably coifed distillation of driven pop with soft edges. The new wave of gaze has been a favorite around here for just this reason. There’s a lot that’s already been done with shoegaze that doesn’t need to be re-wrung, but a select few — Aluminum, Mo Dotti, forever ☆,, and most certainly, Dummy — find a way to create the past they wish existed, rather than photocopy one one that did. Do You Love The color of the Sky is a record that blooms because of its many layers, and taking the time to tear if all apart is half the fun.