Album Review: DMA'S - The Glow

Evocative tales of inner-city love and loss sprang to life when Sydney’s DMA’S offered up Britrock-tinged indie-pop with their debut EP in 2014. The Newtown trio encapsulated all the trials and tribulations of trying to live one’s best life, then wrapped them in hooky, bright guitar lines and Tommy O’Dell’s effusive, confiding vocals, ensuring the band’s swift uptake by the masses. 

A steady output every other year since has yielded album number three, The Glow. Like previous releases, The Glow reins in impressive producer credits – both Scott Horscroft (The Presets, Paul Kelly, Birds Of Tokyo) and Stuart Price (Madonna, The Killers, Missy Elliott) – and it’s fair to say this pedigree has rubbed off on these 11 tracks.

But the DIY vibe that embodies DMA’S sound is still there, despite the boys expanding into more polished electro territory (Round & Around, Cobracaine) than before. Very much to their credit, they still sound like the same band mucking around in makeshift loungeroom studios despite stretching their creative boundaries this time.

The front end is where most of the goods are and within it are definite gems (Never Before, Life Is A Game Of Changing, Criminals) that are on par with their previous standouts. As an album though, The Glow doesn’t quite stack up as high as Hills End and particularly For Now.