Donny Love has today released their new album titled ‘Meeting of the Dons’ via Holiday Maker Records. Considering that this album took four years is beside the point, what we have here is timeless. Timeless in the fact that we have a truly signature sound from a band that really loves what they’re doing.
And, we have a true album. We have eleven songs of that pure unadulterated joy of music. Each song is a chapter in the story of Donny Love. And, that story will be never-ending. That feeling of exhilaration at that moment you find your new favorite band and can’t get enough is one pressplay away.
About Donny Love
Four years in the making, Meeting of the Dons is a kaleidoscopic 10-track opus that introduces electronica, synth-pop and disco into their eccentric brand of art rock. The album features previous singles “Boredom Pills” “The Lights” and “Put Up a Fight” and follows their 2018 debut LP Sensation.
Meeting of the Dons defines a more mature, ambitious and nocturnal sound which greatly expands upon the group’s creative universe. In writing the album, Donny Love gave themselves freedom to experiment with new songwriting styles and production techniques, and regarding the process Don Hog states:
“Our first album took a minimal-compression, ‘vintage’ approach to production. So naturally for this album, we set out to make a hyper-digital, maximalist, ‘contemporary’ sounding record which was beyond the scope of anything we thought we were capable of, or interested in…”
The group embraced a collaborative approach to the production of Meeting of the Dons, with the album sessions engineered and co-produced by George Carpenter (Hollow Coves, Drug Cult, Karl S. Williams) at Love Street Studios. Further recordings and experimentations were completed in the band’s studio to develop the album’s sound, before enlisting Sydney producer/artist Jack Prest (The Preatures, Sampa the Great, Flume) for mixing and mastering duties. The result is a multi-layered assemblage which reveals new details with each listening experience.
The album’s nocturnal nature is captured by the surreal cover artwork by Australian painter Ellery Burgett, who depicts the Dons as haunting, mythical characters. The album’s visual universe is further detailed on the back cover by digital artist Daniel Kenafake who explores the idea of the album’s ‘meeting room’. During the lockdowns of 2020, a hazy animated video for ‘Boredom Pills’ by artist Ashley Goodall explored notions of identity in the digital age, which is a theme explored more broadly across Meeting of the Dons.
Within the mysterious and hazy universe conjured by Donny Love on Meeting of the Dons, they explore a range of themes; songs questioning the digital age and virtual identity, mantras for mental health, yearnings for personal growth, and questions of loss and memory. During the process of making the album, Don Hog lost his father, and the process of finishing the album took on a much deeper and more personal meaning for the band.
“We set out to create something more akin to a film soundtrack, a bizarre and fantastical journey, with the meeting room forming a symbolic place for the songs to exist within that was separate to us. Instead what we experienced was a profound and interconnected experience of life and loss through the making of these songs.
We learned that music is the most human and wonderful thing there is, and a delineation between one’s art and experiences is an impossible and pointless task. These songs are the last music my Dad heard in this world, and the album is dedicated to him.” Don Hog
In 2021 their single “The Lights” was remixed by the chameleonic Australian artist Traffik Island.
Following the release of Meeting of the Dons, the group will release a remix by Melbourne jazz/house icon Horatio Luna. Donny Love have performed with international acts Thee Oh Sees, Allah-Las, Homeshake, The Growlers and Chastity Belt, plus Australians Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, Peter Bibby, Cool Sounds. The band have a July tour featuring live shows, DJ sets and in-store performances for the release of Meeting of the Dons.
LINKS:
https://www.instagram.com/donnylove69
http://www.facebook.com/donnylove69
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLB-Oz7BFTpLrezuY8R5_8hDbbrLm3us2f
https://open.spotify.com/artist/4TgjN4FFMns72MuXUgNhgW
http://www.donnylove.bandcamp.com