The lyrical idea for Everybody’s Saying Thursday’s The Weekend spewed forth after a mate of Johnny Took’s phoned, trying to rally him down the pub for a pint (or a thousand) on a Thursday night.
And this phrase alone also informed the song’s melody. Inspired by How To Write One Song – a book written by one of their musical heroes, Jeff Tweedy – DMA’S adopted a different songwriting approach for album number four; the Wilco singer-guitarist’s perception that lyrics inherently arrive with melodies attached particularly striking a chord.
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“Satellite/ You’re one in a million to flyyyyyyyyyy!” – the octave leap into Get Ravey’s belated chorus signals a hands-in-the-air, pinger-just-kicked-in moment. But then there’s nostalgic, crestfallen ballads (eg. Jai Alai) that guarantee arms-‘round-your-mates screech-alongs – aka mass, swaying PDA – during future DMA’s gigs.
“You’re my friend, don’t you know?” – ouch, my heart hurts thanks to Tommy O’Dell’s earnest vocal delivery in Forever, with its staccato-strings underbelly dealing Bitter Sweet Symphony vibes. Also, sometimes seismic tonal shifts occur within a single song (see: I Don’t Need To Hide – wait, dat Vocoder? – which oscillates wildly between intimate verses, with minimal instrumentation, and explosive, fleshed-out, euphoric choruses.
Closing track De Carle, which channels The Prodigy, is peak DMA’S. This mostly instrumental banger, resplendent with anticipation-building breakdowns, is Underworld-level biblical. Confession time: around this standout track’s 1.40-minute mark, chair dancing escalated into an upstanding Melbourne Shuffle.
How Many Dreams? releases today, March 31 via the label I Oh You. Check it out here.
