Dumbo Gets Mad is an Italian-born, Los Angeles-based psych pop duo that formed during the summer of 2010. They wrote the material that would eventually comprise their full-length, 2011 debut Elephants At The Door in a basement shortly after forming the band, and their sophomore effort Quantum Leap continued the trippy and weird sounds that they had developed a reputation for. The duo’s soon-to-be released third full-length effort, Thank You Neil is conceptually inspired by Neil DeGrasse Tyson‘s Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey while sonically inspired by Italian library music, the experimental soul music of Shuggie Otis and others from the 1970s, Connan Mockasin and some of the artists on the Stones Throw Records roster.
Comprised of layers of shimmering and twinkling synth chords, brief bursts of strings, brief yet soaring organ chords and jazz-inspired drumming paired with ethereally cooed vocals, Thank You Neil‘s first single “Andronedian Girl” is a slow-burning, dreamy and trippy song that not only possesses a cosmic glow, it manages to sound as though it could have been part of the soundtrack to a cheesy, 70s sci fi film and science documentaries; it wouldn’t be terribly surprising if some enterprising mind attempted to edit “Andromedian Girl” into Carl Sagan‘s Cosmos: A Personal Journey. Or perhaps you might listen to the song while tripping on LSD . . .
The recently released music video is appropriately psychedelic with footage shot in a blueish tinged technicolor forest — colors are purposely washed out to distortion with leaves appearing blue and skin looking kind of purple. Other footage is shot in silhouette and through various filters to give it all a trippy yet captivating feel. I’ve honestly spent a portion of the time staring at the lushness of the video and it’s colors.
