Release Date: May 27, 2022
Genre(s): Pop/Rock, Alternative/Indie Rock, Indie Rock
Record label: Fat Possum Records
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Credit is due to Jason Balla, Emily Kempf, and Eric McGrady, the members who make up the Chicago-based trio Dehd. On 2020's Flower of Devotion, the band delivered such a sincere and cohesive statement of punk-inspired dream pop that listeners may find it hard to imagine them doing anything else. But rather than the bright guitar riffs and intensifying drums that opened up that album, listeners are greeted with a lullaby-esque confession by Balla.
On Blue Skies, Dehd go full Scottish -- the Chicago indie rock trio seem to draw major influences from the twee rock of the Vaselines, the doo-wop stylings of the Jesus and Mary Chain and the nostalgic yelp of Primal Scream. Which is to say that Dehd cover so much sonic and creative ground across their fourth full-length that you could basically take any Western country's music scene and make the exact same case. Recorded in the same studio as their celebrated 2020 LP, Flower of Devotion, Dehd have constructed an album that remains confidently true to their ragged blueprint.
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