Indie rock trio Dehd to release new studio album Blue Skies
On May 27th, Chicago-based indie rock trio Dehd will release their new studio album Blue Skies via Fat Possum. The album was recorded in their hometown Chicago by the band's singer and guitarist Jason Balla. The album was mixed by Craig Silvey (Arcade Fire, Portishead, The National) and mastered by Heba Kadry (Björk, Slowdive, Cate Le Bon). The first single Bad Love is out now.
Dehd's fourth album Blue Skies (and the first to be released by Fat Possum) offers another jolt of timely hope, but with twice the power. The 13 songs on the album feel like torches in the dark, acknowledging how difficult everything can be, from love and sex to living and dying, while drawing inspiration from their own experiences.
The enthusiastic reception of Flower of Devotion gave Dehd access to more resources - budgets, studios, producers. But instead of looking for something new, they invested in themselves, their process and their deep belief in what they had always done. They booked the same studio where they had recorded Flower of Devotion, but tripled their stay so they had time to play with arrangements and indulge in a wonderland of drum machines and synthesizers.
Jason Balla has been working on his tracks as a producer throughout Dehd's career, so this was a chance to indulge and explore. Eric McGrady was thinking about what more he could do as a drummer by adding layers to the thumps of his past. And Emily, who admits that making records has always been an emotionally draining process, concentrated on harnessing her indomitable energy, letting her power flow into these songs without being overwhelmed by it. Dehd gave herself the space to make mistakes and to make a statement. Blue Skies is their poignant, redemptive and intensely funny testament to trusting yourself and pushing yourself.
The lyrics are sharper and smarter on Blue Skies. The harmonies and rhythms are more refined and thoughtful. The atmosphere is deeper, the swings between them more inspiring. But this is still Dehd, only wilder and more wondrous than ever before. 'This is all we get,' Emily shouts in the record's final lines, during a song about putting things in perspective which should encourage us all to live a bit more, 'Best to take the risk.'
The triumphant first single Bad Love is a wave of self liberation, Emily taking the lead in an anthem about admitting your mistakes, seeking forgiveness, and finding a way forward. "Bad Love is about recovering from love addiction and making a decision to stop choosing and aligning with people who aren't your energetic match. I wrote it for myself and for everyone who needed to hear a song about choosing new forms of love. it's about chasing a relationship with oneself rather than an unhealthy one, one that just doesn't quite fit, or a codependent one. everyone experiences loneliness and everyone needs connection. i wished to reclaim loneliness for myself and others as something not embarrassing or to be a kept dark secret. i wanted to embrace loneliness and being alone, alchemizing it with friendship and behaviors with self that don't involve romance or sex." Watch the video below.
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