Blue Skies lives up to its title in the best ways possible, with repeated detours from the norm. Post-punk bands tend to veer dark and brooding, but Dehd avoid that here, putting all of their energy into sunny anthems filled with dizzying coos, lighthearted hooks and charming rhythms. It all helps them bounce across the record and into our hearts for good.
Whether they’re singing about nothing or everything all at once, Dehd make contagiously fun indie rock, and even when a storm flashes across these Blue Skies, they’re still running around outside, refusing to leave the playground. Even the album’s cover art—perhaps a take on a child’s butterfly sketch—seems to advertise that, despite the songs’ occasional delving into very grown-up issues, this is play manifesting as music. That balance of meaningful storytelling and unbound experimentation are what make Dehd one of the most exciting rock bands working today. Where some artists, faced with our world’s current unraveling, would choose nihilism or anger, Dehd reach for joy again and again.
What do you do when the world spins out of control? You try your best to slow down and centre yourself before marching on. That’s what Dehd have done on Blue Skies, the Chicago rock trio’s Fat Possum debut and third album to date. Its predecessor, the sharp and spunky Flower of Devotion, sprouted from chaos and premiered during the tumultuous summer of 2020, when global anxiety over the pandemic and the increasingly commonplace catastrophes of climate change and political unrest raged with particular volatility. Although those storms have yet to pass, Blue Skies finds the band picking up the pieces and building towards a brighter future.
out on May 10, 2024
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out on September 13, 2022
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