LSDXOXO
Dogma
BECAUSE
Over the years, Berlin-based producer LSDXOXO has proven himself a connoisseur of balancing provocation and danger in all forms of dance music. From electroclash to Baltimore club, his strutting drumbeats and salacious lyrics have always pushed boundaries, whether it’s through testing gag reflexes or blurring the line between demonic and divine. Although 2021’s Dedicated 2 Disrespect EP and its 2023 follow-up Delusions of Grandeur (D.O.G.) had a mostly elevated heart rate and amped up the smut, LSDXOXO’s debut album Dogma flaunts an air of detachment that makes for a confounding listen.
Across Dogma, LSDXOXO showcases heartbreak’s polarity, using it in turns as emotional safeguard, foreplay, and supernatural power. “I can pretend, but it won’t go far / My heart got a brand new scar,” he sings on “Brand New.” Yet the mood is breezy and the beat is flirty—as if LSDXOXO is eager to take a stroll down the runway with his exposed heart, blemishes and all, as the ultimate accessory. “Baby I’m not ready for loving / Not until you break my heart,” he croons on the previous track, the acoustic guitar–led album highlight “4LUVN.” It’s as if the “Macarena” was experimenting with an emo phase and then decided to head to the club to avoid crying itself to sleep.
Dogma is a peculiar well of 2000s sonic nostalgia that acts as the perfect host for LSDXOXO’s newly unveiled melancholic vulnerability. Mostly, though, it feels like it’s at war with itself. Saccharine synths, bubblegum melodies, and manipulated vocals are ghosts of early-2000s pop hits like Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face,” Keri Hilson’s “Pretty Girl Rock,” or Young Money’s “BedRock,” all while encapsulating a mood that feels closer to Evanescence. Dogma is witchy and brooding to the point of dissociation, proving that LSDXOXO doesn’t need to be vulgar to grab our attention. But it sure did seem like he was having more fun when he was.
