DMA’s release new single ‘I Don’t Need To Hide’

Sydney rockers DMA‘s have amassed an impressive fanbase in the UK, following an extensive 2021 tour including a three night residency at Manchester’s Victoria Warehouse. Their live show in February 2020 and later album in March 2021, Live At Brixton, reminded us that live shows would be attainable again. With songs influenced by the Oasis and Stone Roses songbook, and energetic live shows, it’s not hard to understand why the UK have adopted them with such open arms.

However, the new single ‘I Don’t Need To Hide’ falls short. Instrumentally, it’s a departure from their well-honed sound, with pop-style synth sounds front and centre in the mix. Singer Tommy O’Dell’s vocals feel incongruous with the rest of the song, and at some moments the autotune is jarring. 

Lyrically, the song is about “the confidence you obtain when you find someone that loves you for all your faults, quirks and obscurities… you don’t need to hide anything from anyone anymore”. It’s a wonderful sentiment, but it does feel a little overstressed, and doesn’t have the killer anthemic hook of ‘Feels Like 37’ or ‘Lay Down’.

The song will nestle into the live set, and perhaps triumph within a live mix. But, in terms of the recorded single, ‘I Don’t Need To Hide’ appears to conceal the punch that fans have grown so accustomed to.

DMA’s will tour the UK in October, beginning at London’s Roundhouse, before heading up to Manchester Academy and Glasgow Barrowlands. You can buy tickets here.

Stream ‘I Don’t Need To Hide’ below: