DMA'S- For Now (Album Review)

Since releasing their first EP in 2015 DMA's have built a considerable and immensely loyal following in this country. The Australian three piece's debut LP Hill's End gained them considerable recognition for it's 'Britpop Revival' style with uplifting lyrics and big choruses that recalled Oasis at their brilliant, swaggering best.

If that debut release would've fitted perfectly in with the musical landscape of 1994-97 then aspects of second album FOR NOW wouldn't be out of place in any year between 1990 and 1999. DMA's have never been shy to wear their influences on their sleeves and continue to do so here.

Opening and title track 'For Now' is the stand out. It's like all the best bits of The Charlatans' early records married with the shimmering guitar of How Soon Is Now? by The Smiths with just an added dash of Kula Shaker (remember them?)

Lead single 'Dawning' is the track that most resembles the band's previous album, with soaring lead guitar parts and a strong melody. However most of the tracks here such as the brilliant 'Time and Money', single 'In The Air' and the beautiful 'Health' have more of  laid back vibe than the first record, even sounding like Travis in places. However the production has been taken up a notch on this release thanks to Kim Moyes, with even the more sedate tracks sounding more grandiose than their Hill's End counterparts. This may be a deliberate attempt at mainstream appeal (songs like 'Warsaw' and the aforementioned 'Time and Money' are the sort of tracks you could imagine turning on up on some sort of Spotify playlist for a summer barbecue whereas closing track 'Emily Whyte' is reminiscent of more than one of the singles on The Verve's Urban Hymns ) or may just hint at a natural progression in terms of the band's maturity.

In short For Now is a more stylistically varied and assured album than their first. Naysayers might point to the continuation of the 90s influences as a bad thing but I don't see it as an issue when done this well. The likes of 'The End' and 'Warsaw' can't help but put you in a good mood, such is their instantly uplifting nature, with frontman Tommy O'Dell's soaring vocals coming to the fore. For Now is everything a second album ought to be; a natural progression from their first, but so unmistakeably DMA's that their old fans will be delighted and it may just gain them some more.