DMA’s – How Many Dreams?

Aussie rock trio DMA’s are back with How Many Dreams?, a bright-eyed, summery collection of festival-ready synth-pop-infused tracks that signal a new era for the Sydney band.

The album begins with the eponymous track How Many Dreams?, an opener that spells a marked departure from their earlier work where scattered, digital tick-tacky rhythms stand in place of the standard acoustic guitar-driven melodies and sonic electric-guitar riffs that we’ve come to expect from the group. Instead, soaring synths and the echo-chamber sound of lead singer Tommy O’Dell takes charge. His cyclical vocals, whilst not underpinned by the most engaging lyrics, are catchy enough that it’s not hard to imagine crowds chanting along to the recurring call of “How many dreams?” at festivals later in the year.

The stand-out entry Olympia immediately follows and kicks into gear with a loopy guitar run and bursts of percussion. There’s a “live” feel to the number, where distorted guitar riffs take centre stage, and, for a moment, the Aussie group set down the synths and pop-fuelled tones that comprise much of the album, to deliver a track that provides the classic DMA’s brand of indie-rock that many will undoubtedly crave. For these fans, moments like Olympia are few and far between and have taken a backseat to the evolving character of the Sydney trio.

The record’s lead single, Everybody’s Saying Thursday’s the Weekend, is a springtime bop, with whirring digital tones and scatterings of clacking percussion. Dear Future, which opens with a shimmery synth backing that brings to mind the music of Brit-rock band The Verve, is compounded with this soaring rhythm, but brought down by some undercooked lyrics and vocals that lack momentum. The album closer, De Carle, comes as a sudden surprise and is a gargantuan shift from the preceding tunes, with darker themes, thumping kick drums, scratchy electric guitar lines and well-timed dance beats. It’s more The Prodigy than Oasis, the DMA’s subverting our expectations with a closer that is as interesting as How Many Dreams? gets.

Expanding on their 2020 album The Glow, the DMA’s have fully embraced the pop-rock, dance anthem approach to their sound, far removed from the barebones, rough-around-the-edges, acoustic indie tones of their 2016 debut Hills End that saw their meteoric rise to fame. For some, How Many Dreams? might prove to be a step too far away from the Aussie group’s roots, and even at its best with tracks like Olympia, it’s hard to imagine any of these faring quite as well with audiences as crowd favourites Silver and Delete, and many will find themselves flocking back to the comforts of their earlier records.

Ronan Fawsitt
Image: Kalpesh Lathigra

How Many Dreams? is released on 31^st March 2023. For further information or to order the album visit the website here.

Watch the video for the single Everybody’s Saying Thursday’s the Weekend here: