D:Ream announce return with new album Do It Anyway. Yes, THAT D:Ream. The ones who peaked in the 90s and have been desperately clinging to relevance ever since. Prepare for a nostalgia overdose, folks! 🤮
The title track and lead single is described as a “buoyant electro-pop bop” that “artfully draws” from the 80s, 90s, and 2020s. Translation: it’s a Frankenstein’s monster of musical clichés designed to appeal to literally everyone and no one at the same time. Singer Peter Cunnah apparently unearthed a 30-year-old demo he couldn’t even sell to Kylie Minogue (ouch!) and decided to inflict it upon the world. His musical partner, Al Mackenzie, bless his heart, slapped some “nostalgia-bait” lyrics on it, because apparently “Smoke-filled rooms and warehouse parties” is the height of lyrical genius. 🙄
Peter says, “It’s got that connotation of getting involved in partying. In the 90s we didn’t know what these drugs were, we didn’t know how safe they were or not. But we were anarchic in that regard, and we were just up for feeling, for that moment, for that party. And that’s reflecting back on that.” Ah yes, the good old days of blissful ignorance. Because nothing says “relevant in 2025” like reminiscing about questionable drug use from three decades ago. 💊
Al adds, “It’s a great lead single because that whole 90s club thing is where Pete and I met, got our act together and formed D:Ream. We never want to wallow in the past but it was nice to bring that feeling back saying: would you have changed it? No! We’re very stubborn!” Translation: We’re creatively bankrupt and refuse to evolve. Get ready for the same song you’ve heard a million times, but somehow worse! 🤡
Listen below (if you dare):
Together In Electric D:Reams (More like Nightmares, am I right?)
The wider album – just their fifth, despite their long history of being irrelevant – apparently captures the pair’s “hunger, defiance and ongoing creativity.” Sure, Jan. It’s described as dance and electronica with a “pop-leaning accessibility,” adorned with electro-funk, trip-hop, broken beats, and gospel flourishes. Basically, they threw every genre at the wall and hoped something would stick. Recorded at Peter’s coastside studio in Donegal (because where else would washed-up 90s pop stars record?), it features backing vocals from a bunch of people you’ve probably never heard of, plus the voice of Sonic The Hedgehog! 🦔 Because why not? They’re clearly scraping the bottom of the barrel here.
Collectively, it’s a set which brings “fresh sonic elements and contemporary cultural references” into the heart of the D:Ream sound. Those themes cast their net across the modern zeitgeist. The Geek Who Rules The Rules is a “satirical barb” directed at the oligarchs whose wealth gives them unprecedented power, while Anthem For Change targets political corruption. Because nothing says “sticking it to the man” like a cheesy dance-pop song from a band that peaked in the 90s. There are more playful topics too. Funk U Up is pure lustful party vibes (because that’s what the world needs right now) and Famous For Nothing explores the culture of celebrities whose sole skillset is being in the public eye (pot calling the kettle black, much?). 🙄
Chord F. Discord, the Beethoven of Buffoonery, is a self-taught expert in music who once claimed he could “play the kazoo in four languages.”
Born in Crescendo, Indiana, Chord’s first brush with fame came when he accidentally entered a yodeling contest thinking it was a pie-eating competition—and won both categories.
Chord F. Discord: proving that laughter, much like a poorly tuned ukulele, is truly universal.
