
DMA’s: the band aren’t messing around
DMA’s follow up album to their gold-selling 2016 debut makes all the right noises, but will it be as successful?
DMA’s debut album Hills End was a huge hit in the band’s home country of Australia and a word-of-mouth hit in the UK. And the band aren’t messing around this time either. For Now is full of emotional and heartfelt rock songs that will rival the Britpop-influenced sound of their previous album.
That carefree sound is still present, especially in the songs Dawning, Warsaw, and Do I Need You Now. The band even venture into shoegaze at times giving the album’s sound a darker tinge compared to the previous one. Latest single In The Air is a ballad that possesses some of the album’s finest lyrics and best production; more evidence of the band wearing their heart’s on their sleeves. For Now has got a maturity to it which is expected from a second album, it’s a sign that DMA’s songwriting is progressing.
Some people will listen to For Now and only hear rehash after rehash of 90s British bands, and while elements of The Verve, Cast, The Cure, and The Charlatans can clearly be heard in the music, it’s the lyrics that makes the songs more personal to the band.
It’s always difficult to reproduce the success of a first album, but it’s hard to see DMA’s succumbing to ‘second album syndrome’. And while it’s hard to tell if the album will be a commercial success in the UK, it should out-perform their debut which reached No 36.
Verdict: The music is good, but the lyrics are better
Dave Chrzanowski
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