Dummy, the playful and dreamy electronic rockers from Los Angeles, really impressed me with their 2024 album Free Energy. Also, in his capacity as a publicist, guitarist Joe Trainor has introduced us, the Stereogum staff, to a lot of really good music that we might've missed otherwise. Dummy's new album do you love the color of the sky? drops next month, and they really went dummy on lead single "Full Spectrum Dominance." Today, the band shares the album's first two tracks.
Dummy have put "April Limousine and "Alluvial Fan," tracks one and two from do you love the color of the sky?, into the same YouTube clip, but the songs don't necessarily have to serve as a two-part suite. They're two distinct pieces of music, though the hazy drum 'n' bass dream-cloud of "April Limousine" does nicely offset the funky-slacker mood piece "Alluvial Fan." In a press release band member Emma Maatman says:
The first song "April Limousine" serves as a literal introduction to the album and includes references to every other song, including the demos that didn’t make it on. It leaves you with the thesis statement and the question, "do you love the color of the sky?…," among others. The video is supposed to show a dichotomy of the beauty of nature and the chaos of impending technological advancement, which leads us into the next song, "Alluvial Fan." In the video, Nathan is drawn by a mysterious force to the wires around him.
Maatman's bandmate Nathan O'Dell says:
The lyrics are a hybrid of two ideas. The first being based on imagery from a certain 2000s anime where the goal of mass digital connection blurs the lines of our human reality and a sense of self. One can’t help but follow the humming wires further and further until they are completely lost in the "Wired" web. The other idea is the phenomenon of alluvial fans. They’re sick… check them out. This song also features some silky smooth vocals from Allyson and Paul from New Issue.
I can't wait for this album! Emma Maatman directed the video for the two tracks, and you can check it out below.
do you love the color of the sky? is out 10/16 on Polyvinyl.
