Dummy (Trouble in Mind) share "Nine Clean Nails" Single .. New album Free Energy due 6th September plus UK tour dates
Dummy
Unveils New Single, "Nine Clean Nails"
New Album, Free Energy
Due 6th September on Trouble in Mind
UK tour in November/December
“[‘Nullspace’] keeps up the Crystal Pepsi-era vibes that have become Dummy’s signature, matching fervent acoustic strums and a hard-cracking programmed beat with droning, melodious psych-pop melodies.” — Stereogum
"One of the brightest guitar pop and ambient acts around." — Paste
Dummy — the Los Angeles band of Alex Ewell, Emma Maatman, Nathan O’Dell, and Joe Trainor — shares the new single/video, “Nine Clean Nails,” from their new album, Free Energy, out September 6th on Trouble In Mind Records.
Going into the record, the band made a pact to leave behind the motorik beat that launched 1000 Stereolab comparisons, however this does make an appearance on “Nine Clean Nails,” perhaps the most confidently pop song Dummy has ever recorded. It exemplifies Free Energy’s balancing of live performance intensity with electronic augmentations. The dancier rhythmic elements were created out of a drum loop recorded by Ewell, while the bridge recalls The Feelies with call-and-response guitars from O’Dell and expressive vocals from Maatman.
Dummy - Nine Clean Nails
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCyb1729fe0
Streaming Services:
https://dummy.lnk.to/FreeEnergy
Album Preorder:
https://dummy.lnk.to/FreeEnergy
The video, directed by Maatman and O’Dell’s wife Katie Ryan, was shot in just over a day at the LA River. “We became transfixed with the juxtaposition of lush greenery and natural wildlife in a man-made (or man-altered) river, all mixed in with man-made trash,” Maatman explains. “We thought it would be a great location for a character to go off the rails, as the song ‘Nine Clean Nails’ is about feelings of isolation and the rollercoaster of mania.”
Dummy Tour Dates 2024:
Thu. Oct. 31 - Breda, NL @ Mezz
Fri. Nov. 1 - Utrecht, NL @ ACU
Sat. Nov. 2 - Groningen, NL @ Vera Sun.
Nov. 3 - Nijmegen, NL @ Merleyn
Tue. Nov. 5 - Copenhagen, DK @ Loppen
Wed. Nov. 6 - Stockholm, SE @ Hus7
Thu. Nov. 7 - Oslo, NO @ Blå
Fri. Nov. 8 - Malmo, SE @ Plan B
Sat. Nov. 9 - Berlin, DE @ Synästhesie Festival
Sun. Nov. 10 - Warsaw, PL @ Chmury
Mon. Nov. 11 - Vienna, AT @ Arena
Tue. Nov. 12 - Salzburg, AT @ Rockhouse
Wed. Nov. 13 - Zurich, CH @ Bogen F
Thu. Nov. 14 - Annecy, FR @ La Brise Glace Festival
Fri. Nov. 15 - Dijon, FR @ Le Consortium
Sat. Nov. 16 - Rennes, FR @ Kool Thing Festival
Sun. Nov. 17 - Clermont Ferrand, FR @ La Coopérative de Mai
Tue. Nov. 19 - Marseille, FR @ L’Intermédiare
Wed. Nov. 20 - Lyon, FR @ Sonic
Thu. Nov. 21 - Bordeaux, FR @ Iboat
Fri. Nov. 22 - Angers, FR @ Joker’s Pub
Sun. Nov. 24 - Paris, FR @ La Boule Noire
Tue. Nov. 26 - London, UK @ Moth Club
Wed. Nov. 27 - Bristol, UK @ The Lanes
Thu. Nov. 28 - Coventry, UK @ Just Dropped In
Fri. Nov. 29 - Newcastle, UK @ The Lubber Fiend
Sun. Dec. 1 - Glasgow, UK @ Broadcast
Mon. Dec. 2 - Edinburgh, UK @ Sneaky Pete’s
Tue. Dec. 3 - Leeds, UK @ Headrow House
Wed. Dec. 4 - Manchester, UK @ Yes
Thu. Dec. 5 - Brighton, UK @ Dust
Dummy’s debut full-length Mandatory Enjoyment arrived in late 2021 and quickly became one of the year’s sleeper hits. Pitchfork, Bandcamp Daily, Stereogum, Aquarium Drunkard, and other publications praised Dummy’s mix of ambient and twinkly guitar pop, their deep musical references, and the intentionality with which they patchworked it all together. Fans bought copies of Mandatory so quickly that Trouble in Mind couldn’t keep it in stock. Sub Pop Records also invited the band to contribute to their legendary Singles Club series. Bands loved Dummy, too, and the group were asked to open for Horsegirl, Botch, Black Country, New Road, Luna, Spirit of the Beehive, Dehd, Snooper, Sweeping Promises, Snail Mail, and more.
Where Mandatory Enjoyment was cerebral and lo-fi, the product of a lot of time inside, Free Energy is all movement, presence, and physicality. A creatively restless band, Dummy felt like they had done the best version of motorik pop that they could do, and wanted to get harder, dancier, a little more psychedelic. Ewell and Trainor began experimenting with home recording, using DAW as kind of an instrument for composition rather than simply a tool. O’Dell dug deeper into instrumental/sample composition, in addition to contributing more guitar leads. Maatman also steps into the spotlight in a big way, her vocals noticeably foregrounded and confident, adding to the live performance feel that forms the foundation of Free Energy. The result is a record that celebrates music’s ability to move the body, whether that be through a teeth-rattling wall of MBV-esque noise, a sticky pop chorus, or a joyous drum machine—or, if you’re Dummy, maybe all of them in the same song.
Additionally, Free Energy features guest appearances by friends Dummy has played with on tour, including Oakland-based saxophonist and electroacoustic artist Cole Pulice and Jen Powers of Powers / Rolin Duo, along with a series of field recordings the band made while on tour: the rushing of water, the rumbling of the van, indistinct voices, chirping birds; the sounds of mundanity rising to cacophony before petering out, treated no differently than the ecstatic rhythms, explosive hooks, and blissful ambient stretches that came before. If there is any key to understanding what makes Dummy such a compelling band, perhaps it is this: it’s all music to them.
Previous Praise for Dummy:
“Dummy have transcended their influences and crafted their own record collector gem.” - Pitchfork
“…Mandatory Enjoyment is a record that might be considered some sort of indie platonic ideal, taking the best parts of all the coolest music ever made and putting them together in a way that feels natural and refreshingly modern rather than smugly nostalgic and overly referential” - Bandcamp
“what’s arguably most satisfying about Dummy is that their thrumming instrumentals evoke crisp lines, while their free-flowing, tangential textures color outside those bounds—their songs always feel like the perfect painting.” - Paste
“…the band succeeds in not only recalling the past but putting their whirlpool of ‘90s noise pop to good use.” - Raven Sings The Blues
Free Energy Tracklist:
1. Intro-UB
2. Soonish
3. Unshaped Road
4. Opaline Bubbletear
5. Blue Dada
6. Nullspace
7. Minus World
8. Dip In The Lake
9. Sudden Flutes
10. Psychic Battery
11. Nine Clean Nails
12. Godspin
Dummy Online
Instagram | Bandcamp | Trouble In Mind
