DMA's - For Now

Rating:

DMA's are determined to make their own mark.

While being compared to Oasis has got to be a good thing on all counts, for DMA’s it’s fair to say it became a commonplace comparison for the Aussie trio. With debut album ‘Hills End’, DMA’s left a mark with their instantly infectious Britpop hooks, and knack for sun-kissed melodies abound - but where to go next was an easy question to ask of them. Fed with the rapturous receptions they were met with across the globe, and particularly the UK - ‘For Now’ is their defiant next step, a record that bears the glorious heart of everything they beat with ‘Hills End’, but determined to make their own mark on the world around them.

Whereas ‘Hills End’ pulled upon the classic traits of Britpop albums of times past, ‘For Now’ merges the progression and individuality of DMA’s with the immediately recognisable ability of a band able to produce the sort of unifying anthems that come as second nature to them. When in full flight, the likes of ‘Dawning’, ‘Warsaw’ and ‘Break Me’ fizz with a wave of emotion that takes you from first listen, whilst in the album’s title track they call to mind the frenzied daze of The Smiths ‘How Soon Is Now?’ climbing atop chiming guitars and potent spits of defiant lyrics.

Unafraid to be emotional but universal, ‘In The Air’ is up there with the very best on their debut, but that step into new frontiers take them to a new realm. ‘The End’, take hypnotic electro hits and glides into view with ease, while ‘Do I Need You Now’ stomps into a frenzy. Closer ‘Emily Whyte’ is their most ambitious track to date, blending movie soundtrack with Primal Scream rhythm to mark what’s sure to be a captivating live moment - all-encompassing on a record that finds DMA’s determined to strike out on their own.

‘For Now’ is a record that DMA’s needed to make. Signalling the ambitions and creativity that flows through the trio, it grows out of the boots of Britpop past and makes their own new collection for the world to dazzle at. It’s not reinventing the wheel, but it’s excelling at a lost art that many will be clambering over from the very first listen. Where they go from here? Who knows, but it’s bound to bring thousands with them. Jamie Muir