It’s been exciting to watch Dummy’s evolution over the past five years from fairly reverent Stereolab homage to something far more complex, as they burrow deep beneath the neo-psych sheen and Lætitia Sadier homage of their 2021 debut Mandatory Enjoyment. After 2024’s Free Energy opened the door to the sounds of the early-’90s baggy movement, this week they’ll drop what is their most experimental release to date, as well their most politically fueled. Much of Do You Love the Color of the Sky? feels like first-gen shoegaze chopped up and reconstructed to fit a more contemporary musical and sociological context.
Case in point, the record’s final pre-release single is called “N of 1,” and takes aim at the Flockification of daily life. Vocalist Emma Maatman’s vocals keep cool across the single’s five-minute runtime as the backing instrumental feels like a much more soothing interpretation of the whirring of overworked power generators. “‘N of 1’ is a plea to both the proprietors and the more complacent subjects of the ever-encroaching surveillance state,” Maatman shares of the track. Meanwhile, guitarist Joe Trainor speaks to the song’s structure, which reflects that of the album more broadly: “I liked the idea of taking glacial guitar drones and cutting ’em up into new forms, infusing those dreamy walls of sound into a D&B context. To me, so much of the record is like the remixed versions of pop songs you'll never hear.”
The track’s music video features Maatman in full hacker garb tracking down each of her bandmates on Google Maps as they may or may not be traversing the Buzludzha monument. “Typically our videos aren’t such a direct visual representation of the meaning of the song,” adds Maatman, “but I had just gotten it into my head that the zooming action on Street View would go perfectly with the meter and energy of the song, and the rest sort of fell into place after that.”
Check out the video below, and pre-order Do You Love the Color of the Sky? here ahead of its release this Friday via Polyvinyl. You can also scroll on for Dummy’s upcoming West Coast tour dates.
