“Everything is new”, hymns frontman Anthony Green on the opening verse of L.D. Dunes’ upcoming second album, Violet. Releasing just over 2 years after their debut Past Lives, this album takes the angst and negativity, the frustrated punch that permeated it, and repurposes it into a much more hopeful and empowering context.
L.S. Dunes blasted onto the international Alt-Rock scene in 2022 with an impressive set of credentials. Comprised from members of My Chemical Romance, Coheed and Cambria, Circa Survive, and Thursday, each with their own cult-like following, the band revealed themselves in 2022 to a huge amount of success.
You could be forgiven for thinking you know what’s coming after hearing the names of their other bands, but somehow, L.S. Dunes manage to set themselves apart from their other work with songwriting that feels collaborative in all the best ways, creating something new rather than feeling like a collage. “The collaborative efforts to bring each song to a full potential came naturally. It’s the album that has always lived in us individually but could only be made together.”, shares guitarist Travis Stever. Rest assured, you couldn’t mistake any of these songs for a Circa Survive song, or an MCR song.
Coming in at just under 40 minutes, the 10-track album does not overstay its welcome. It retains the same punch and rousing disquiet of their debut, but provides a few more opportunities for some more “majestic” sounding sections, such as the closing verse of the second track “Fatal Deluxe”, which implores us to ask ourselves “How much is too much? How much is enough?” in a song that seems to bring up a tendency to isolate and detach from others in periods of difficulty. This seems to be a major theme for the album: things are difficult, the world sucks, but there is hope, and there is magic in everything.
Perhaps the best example of this message lies in the closing track “Forgiveness”. In “Past Lives”, closing track “Sleep Cult”, Green sings “I’m sorry that I wish I was dead”, something he says he regrets. “Forgiveness” seems to be a retort to that statement, or perhaps an acceptance. It’s an anthem in the name of self-acceptance and love, warts n’ all, and closes the album on a wonderfully poignant precipice, a melancholy leap of faith into something better. Listen to it, and you’ll know there’s something else coming to look forward to. For now, though, we have this to remind ourselves to forgive.
Even the album’s title, Violet, reflects this theme of magic: guitarist Frank Iero shares that the title was originally words he mumbled to himself while writing scratch lyrics for the title track, then somehow survived demo after demo. Violet is associated with luxury, decadence, and individualism, and Violet delivers on all fronts.
Rating: 5/5
Violet is out 31st January 2025 via Fantasy Records. Pre-orders for are available now here.
