Los Angeles, California Band Dummy Calls AI the New 'Alchemy' on 'Full Spectrum Dominance'

Dummy, the Los Angeles, California band, released their new album do you love the color of the sky? on October 16 via Polyvinyl. Its lead single, "Full Spectrum Dominance," targets artificial intelligence and the devaluation of art.

A new label and a new lane

Dummy announced the album in August alongside news that they had signed to Polyvinyl, The Line of Best Fit reported. It follows 2024's Free Energy and the remix companion Bubbelibrium DLC, which Treble dates to 2025.

The band calls the new record their "anti-zeitgeist" album. Where Free Energy pulled from Madchester and rave culture, this one leans into post-rock and drone, with pop touchstones like early Björk, The Sundays and Madonna's Ray of Light, per The Line of Best Fit.

"Full Spectrum Dominance" and the AI question

"I was trying to make something just heavier, and we joked it was our nu metal song," guitarist Joe Trainor told The Line of Best Fit. Keyboardist Emma put it more bluntly: "This is the Technofeudalism bop."

"Tech billionaires are treating AI like the new Alchemy, using it as a source of power and magic," she told the outlet. The video, directed by Matt Wells, blends 3D animation, found imagery and motion graphics around that same idea of AI as modern alchemy.

Treble's October 11 review hears the album balancing hedonism with warnings about climate destruction and frustration over AI companies exploiting artists' work. The outlet calls the record "sleek and nocturnal," noting that the band built their own self-recorded sample library and scattered it into dancefloor euphoria.

Built on the road

Dummy have played around 113 shows since Free Energy, including U.S. dates and two trips to Europe. "Touring has had a huge impact on us and our music," drummer Alex Ewell told The Line of Best Fit. Their new U.S. run was scheduled to open October 13 in Fresno, California.

Treble describes a sound moving "from hypnotic psych-pop to buzzy shoegaze and dreamy electronics," with vocalists Emma Maatman and Nathan O'Dell set against jangly guitar and buzzing keyboard drone. The ten-track album opens with "April Limousine" and closes with "Heaven's What You Make of It." Some editions add a "Dronus Disc," which Treble compares to Olivia Tremor Control's Dusk at Cubist Castle and the Flaming Lips' Zaireeka.

In its 7/10 review, The Line of Best Fit called the album "a softly-lit and pastel-hued otherland easy to get lost in."

Where to listen and follow

do you love the color of the sky? is out now on Polyvinyl Record Co. and available on major streaming platforms.

Sources

The Line of Best Fit — "Dummy sign to Polyvinyl and announce new album, do you love the color of the sky?"
The Line of Best Fit — "Dummy offer up a pastel-hued escape fantasy on do you love the color of the sky?"
Treble — "Dummy – do you love the color of the sky?"