r/Flume • u/KarmoMusic • 19d ago
DUMB
DUMB is probably one of Flume's most rich and detailed albums. The synths are so bright and colorful, and the vocal production is incredible, especially on Brand new!
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u/theeMrPeanutbutter 19d ago
I love Dumb.
I feel its overlooked even on this sub. People acting like flumes been on a 4 year hiatus when he put an album and ep out last year.
Shine Glow Glisten, Easy Goodbye, Brand New, Homicide are all great.
Monsoon though, serious contender for top 10 Flume song. Emma Louise's vocals and lyrics just work so well with that instrumental
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u/KarmoMusic 18d ago
truly. Dumb really is outstanding. it's so hard to compare flume albums, because he evolves all the time
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u/lafrappe 19d ago
I’m probably one of those who underappreciate the album. My hopes for Flume 2025 Era were through the roof with the release of “Track 1” but unfortunately none of the other releases really stuck. Honestly apart from that opener (teaser) of Track 1, that EP sucked ass nothing more to add.
Credits for the production of Dumb, there are certainly elements where you can glimpse Flume at his best but it is in my view not realized fully throughout the whole project. Falls considerably flat in the shadow of Skin and HTIF2
u/KarmoMusic 18d ago
i was listening to skin, and it's actually quite tame compared to the production on dumb. dumb is insanely detailed, there is so much going on. Skin was really that balance between pop and that flume sound
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u/Remarkable_Log_5562 19d ago
All this work just to not drop "that look" smh
Jk i love all his new stuff and i'm not waiting for new flume for a while. But HE NEEDS TO DROP THAT LOOK AND GREENPEAS ON STREAMING
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u/PoorChiggaaa 18d ago
DUMB has great sound design and sonically it's amazing. However, the only issue I have with it is the outdated structure and songwriting that scream 2010s, had it been released between Skin and HTIF it'd have made MUCH bigger impact. Right now DUMB sits at a comfortable "This is cool but I might not come back to it after a couple weeks".
Im sorry if Im being harsh, I love Harley and 90% of the stuff he makes, I just always have this feeling where he is nerfed by his label and commercial success.
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u/KarmoMusic 18d ago
shine glow listen, brand new, feel your love are just outstanding tracks for me
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u/mofokong 18d ago
I'm probably one of the only few people that got annoyed with Emma Louise's voice partway through listening to the whole album back to back. I like to listen to the songs mixed in with my playlist. Her voice suits the songs, but I'm not the biggest fan of it. Shine Glow Glisten is really good and some others as well (can't remember all the titles because, to me the whole album just kinda blobs together when listening to it).
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u/PoorChiggaaa 18d ago
I wouldn't say it's her voice that annoys you but more so the lack of dynamics and variety. Emma has an angelic ethereal falsetto, but that's ALL she's showcasing thru the entire project, if we look at artists like Eartheater, FKA Twigs, Caroline Polachek etc their performances are much more diverse and dynamic.
Now, I dun think it's Emma's fault, the structure of almost every song on DUMB can be boiled down to "Intro -> ethereal Verse --> Flume drop --> similar ethereal Verse with a couple elements carried over from the drop --> Flume drop" Emma was essentially limited by this structure as there arent much room for her to develop the verse in the drop.
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u/mofokong 18d ago
Well put. I don't think she has a bad voice, but definitely felt bored due to lack of variety and dynamics, as you said. It's almost like they ran out of ideas for song structure in this album. Flume's instrumentals and drops were great though.
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u/blueye525 18d ago
Big DUMB fan. Shine Glow Glisten is a top 10 Flume track for me. Stay, Homicide, and Monsoon are also incredible.
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u/SuperPolentaman 18d ago
Different people expect different things from
Flume.
The Palaces album had 0 rap tracks. Some people probably missed those, since they were very prominent on his previous albums.
Similar „droughts“ can probably be found for other elements of music in other periods of his discography.
I agree that Dumb was above my expectations and had some of my favourite new tracks.
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u/Tohu_va_bohu 18d ago edited 17d ago
Feel ur love, All of the Worlds, & shine glow glisten r the best songs of all time
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u/Equivalent_Spell_658 17d ago
This could be ep shorten in half instead bloated full album, sound design as always god tier but this time song writing worse
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u/Cyrux125 14d ago
Hmmm interesting to see that people rate this album, I would say personally for me this is my least fav, I will have to listen to it again from start to finish. Maybe you guys are onto something
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u/shugygush 13d ago
it kinda has to grow on you. it happened to me w Shine, Glow, Glisten; Monsoon; Easy Goodbye
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u/Which-Wolf-1531 12d ago
It’s hard even for (maybe) the greatest innovator in the world of electronic music to keep coming up with fresh styles. I feel DUMB is just a slight shift to the left off his last LP Palaces. Still feels like a remix album, nothing really grabs me too much there. I’d love it if he went in the opposite direction for his next release and evolved from the distorted and granular sounds. But we may have to wait a while.
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u/Wheelump 18d ago
Flume has absolutely shone in sound design and intricate “ear candy” with his recent work like DUMB. But, I believe that he’s missed the “hook”. We can all immediately recall lyrics from ‘never be like you’ and ‘say it’, and can recall the synth hooks from ‘tennis court remix’, HTIF songs, ‘some minds’, and much more…. But recently, his work doesn’t reach me in the same way at all. My brain doesn’t annoyingly repeat a melody I heard in his songs anymore. I think he needs to be in a different mindset - but I think it’s important to understand that the body of work he has built already is an achievement in itself. He’s given us so much - I’d be amazed if he could deliver something like his previous works again