Album review: iDKHOW – Gloom Division

Since the release of debut album Razzmatazz, it’s fair to say Dallon Weekes has been on a journey, both professionally and personally. In 2023 his collaborator, Ryan Seaman, left iDKHOW, leaving Dallon taking the reins by himself. Add on top of that an AuDHD diagnosis, and you’ve got a musician on a journey of introspection whilst having the freedom of controlling their own destiny.

It's no surprise, then, that on second album Gloom Division, he's tapping into everything from ’80s disco to classic rock whilst still maintaining a sense of fun, pop-meets-emo sensibilities that we’ve come to know. Taking in themes of love, loss and self-discovery, there’s also a running sense of dark humour involved to give these upbeat tunes more of a bite.

Gloomtown Brats pokes fun at rich white people as they fall victim of the machine and become drawn to spending big. It’s all delivered by an ’80s-inspired bassline made for shaking your hips. In fact, it takes you to a place where you’re sun-kissed by a pool drinking on expensive cocktails – straight out of the GTA Vice City playbook. The mood changes with SPKOTHDVL, giving a good pumping of lead from its ambitious bassline, and classic rock riffs.

But like many moments in this record, it fluctuates between big anthems, to crooning slow jams. SIXFT deploys swaying synths while presenting lyrical content like, ‘Fuck around and find out / I don’t want to see you six feet underground,' almost like The Devil hiding in plain sight with a mirage of big funky tunes. The change in influences never feels out of place, either, and Dallon's distinctive vocal delivery really wraps everything seamlessly.

In some places, this might be the same iDKHOW we’ve all come to know. But something has been lit within Dallon Weekes on Gloom Division that we should all be paying attention to.

Verdict: 4/5

For fans of: The 1975, Panic! At The Disco, The Killers

Gloom Division is out now via Concord