DMA’S, I Love You Unconditionally, Sure Am Going To Miss You
Infectious Records
Out of nowhere, DMA’S are back with a new EP: I Love You Unconditionally, Sure Am Going To Miss You. The title may seem like a heart-breaking hint that DMA’S are about to take a break, but long-time fans know it means something slightly different – the title is an easter egg from the Delete video, and a fitting leading line for an EP that harks back to DMA’S musical roots. Last year’s The Glow was received, well, glowingly, proving that DMA’S knack for a hook translates across genre lines, so it makes sense that I Love You Unconditionally… feels far more like a nostalgic trip down a sonic memory lane than it does a step backwards. This is the sound of DMA’S celebrating who they are as a band – so, naturally, it’s brilliant.
Though I Love You Unconditionally… may be looking back to DMA’S early days, there’s a magnitude to it that could only be from a band used to playing to the massive audiences that they’ve accumulated over the past few years. Opener 1 Way packs the tuneful buzz we’re familiar with from the likes of Melbourne or Play It Out, both from DMA’S debut Hill’s End, but it’s filled out with textures just made to expand through festival tents packed with fans who know every word. The DMA’S atmosphere that was once intimate is still just as authentic, but now it feels more vast. The same goes for the EP’s choice single, We Are Midnight – this is hook central, singalong-ready over swelling instrumentals. DMA’S now-trademark adoptive-Britpop blend of acoustic guitar and wonderfully wailing electric melodies has never felt more euphoric than it does here.
The first three tracks are very much cut from the same cloth – Viol follows in the buzzy footsteps of the first two, turning the pace up a little to drive the vocals along. But the real change of pace comes in the EP’s closer, which proves that DMA’S have still got a fierce grip on our heartstrings. Rather than trying to do another Delete, another Emily Whyte, another slice of ethereal melancholy, Junk Truck Head Fuck strips it back to a seventh-laden electric guitar and Tommy O’Dell’s understated vocals for a sound unique from any of their sadder tunes so far. It’s one of those songs that you’re not sure whether it’s supposed to sound heart-breaking or content, but is absolutely catapulted straight to the top of the moody indie canon. Here, DMA’S do turn it back to the more intimate sound, and it’s gorgeous.
It’s especially fun to hear an EP that sounds so much like a band doing exactly what they want to, when it comes ahead of a massive UK tour. DMA’S anthem power is totally intact, and there’s no doubt that I Love You Unconditionally… will slot perfectly into any live setlist, to be received as ecstatically as any song they’ve ever released – after a couple of years away, this tour is going to feel somewhat like a victory lap.
I Love You Unconditionally, Sure Am Going To Miss You is out now, and tickets for tour are available here.
