D.D Dumbo is the pseudonym of musician Oliver Hugh Perry, a solo artist based in Castlemaine, a regional city, just over an hour north-west from Melbourne. I first got in to D.D Dumbo when my wife purchased his debut EP ‘Tropical Oceans’ on vinyl for my birthday. I was instantly hooked. D.D Dumbo has recently released his debut LP ‘Utopia Defeated’, which has been widely acclaimed, both in Australia and internationally. Utopia Defeated opens with a sweet drone in ‘Walrus’. The pulling and pushing of sampled vocals makes the listener want to sway their head in complete elation. The track breaks about half way through with an acoustic guitar and reverb drenched drums, leading to what appears to be a vocal solo, leading in to a final section. This track is a pure delight, and a unique way to commence the LP. The track ‘Satan’ announces itself as an Arcade Fire-esque boogie. ‘In the Water’ provides a stunning respite for the listening, with gentle acoustic guitar and well-tempered vocals, which leaps straight in to ‘Cortisol’, which has elements of the early 2000s electro-pop movement, sounding somewhere between Cut Copy and Midnight Juggernauts. ‘Alihukwe’ has an interesting percussive line that feels like a speed up Afro-beat version of Mirror Drawings by Kid Sam, which morphs in to a synth laden enchantment which then fades in to obscurity. ‘King Franco Picasso’ twitches between bursts of space and buoyant staccato melodies, followed closely by ‘The day I first found god’ and ‘Toxic City’, which shift the listener beyond four walls, and in to a Sunday morning sun filled deck, with warm toast and jam. ‘Brother’ erupts with 1980s-esque surges of whimsical eastern-flavoured refrains, and ‘Oyster’ concludes the LP in a poignant and tranquil manner. D.D Dumbo has established himself as a foreboding artist, with lush and intricate arrangements, akin to the likes of Gotye. ‘Utopia Defeated’ is available now through the label 4AD.
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June 2018
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