Skip to main content
A Magazine for

Utopia Defeated 4AD

D.D Dumbo (Oliver Perry) is an Australian multi-instrumentalist hailing from the small town of Castlemaine. Utopia Defeated is Dumbo's first full length and it's a journey. Pressing play is like stepping into a multilayered rabbit hole. Pots and pans spank just as much as drums. Xylophones blare just as loud as guitars. But it's catchy, almost irritably so, and the pots and pans are just as memorable as the ever-winding vocal melodies that are often refrained but sometimes groaned.

First single ‘Satan’ is a snapshot of the album, an ultra complex production presenting dainty musical rhythms and a powerful vocal. It's catchy, with each idea rising, falling and stopping before the next melodic quirk. Opening track ‘Walrus’ is of a similar ilk, but a little more subtle, letting the gaps do the talking.

The aforementioned are undoubtedly the upbeat singles of the album and while the rest is just as complex, it's much subtler in its delivery. ‘Brother’ has more of a driving rhythm, but is still accentuated with what sounds like a Super Mario theme in the chorus. ‘Toxic City’ is another more chilled track which lets Perry's voice come into its full element in contrast to the singles.

From start to finish, the album weaves. It's 37 minutes of sudden ins and outs and whilst it may border on pretentious, you won't be asking for the time back.

William Hitchmough

by Now Then Sheffield