I DONT KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME

The sophomore album from I DONT KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME, GLOOM DIVISION is a glimpse into the gloriously strange wonderland of Dallon Weekes’ mind. Over the course of 12 shape shifting songs, the Salt Lake City-based singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist follows his wildest impulses toward a combustible sound encompassing everything from R&B to post-punkto art-pop, approaching each with equal parts unfettered imagination and exquisite attention todetail. As he shed all creative inhibitions, Weekes widened the scope of his songwriting and expounded on such matters as love and sex, satanic panic, and his lived experience with neurodivergence (to name just a few). The most autobiographical work to date from Weekes, aformer member of Panic! at the Disco, GLOOM DIVISION ultimately leaves listeners with the very same sense of euphoric fascination that sparked the album’s creation.

Produced by Dave Fridmann (Tame Impala, MGMT, The Flaming Lips),GLOOM DIVISION marksthe follow-up to iDKHOW’s critically lauded full-length debut Razzmatazz—a 2020 releasefeaturing “Leave Me Alone,”a #1 hit on Alternative radio. In bringing the new album to life,Weekes embraced a highly collaborative and free-flowing process that involved joining forceswith the likes of Joywave’s Daniel Armbruster, Louis XIV’s Jason Hill, Miniature Tigers’ Charlie Brand and Rick Alvin, and British singer/songwriter Will Joseph Cook. “We worked in a way where nothing ever felt forced—I’d send an idea to someone whose work I admire, and if they felt inspired they’d add to it,” says Weekes, who co-produced GLOOM DIVISION and plays guitar, bass, piano, and more on the album. “Sometimes the songs took a complete left turn,which made me want to go even further into a direction I never would’ve pursued on my own. Itreminded me how exciting collaboration can be when you’re working with like minded peoplewho treat their art with care."

Recorded at Fridmann’s own Tarbox Road Studios (and in Weekes’ basement studio),GLOOM DIVISION opens on the song that set the tone for the album’s unbridled originality, an elegantly frenetic and exhilarating track called “DOWNSIDE.”“Sometimes we become so enamored with aromantic partner that, for better or for worse, it can be difficult to see the negative aspects ofthe relationship. Even if you’re looking for them,”says Weekes, who names avant-gardeartist/composer Laurie Anderson as an inspiration for the track’s kinetic vocal percussion. “Itturned into a song about trying to find the downside in a relationship, but you’re so enamoredthat you’re unable or unwilling to.

Another song capturing the all-consuming thrill of obsession, “INFATUATION” examines whatWeekes refers to as “indulging in your own sexual fixations and fantasies and the shadow ofreligious guilt that can come with it,” setting that exploration against a gorgeously airy andgroove-heavy backdrop. (“It’s meant to sound like Hall & Oates joined a cult , with Michael McDonald, and the cult was held on a yacht,” he notes.) And on “WHAT LOVE?,” Charlie Brand joins iDKHOW for a sensually charged and spellbinding portrait of a darkly twisted romance,intensifying the track’s sultry mood with slinky guitar riffs, potent basslines, and lyrics channelingan aching desperation (e.g., “You only sacrifice the things I never ask you to”). “When we wereworking on the verses forthat song, I hit record and started messing around and came up withthis melody that sounded like ’90s R&B,” Weekes recalls. “At first I was laughing at the ridiculousness of it, but after sitting with it, I realized it was exactly what the song needed.”

Elsewhere on GLOOM DIVISION, iDKHOW’s forward-thinking musicality manifests in songs likethe irresistibly sardonic “GLOOMTOWN BRATS”—a dance-ready diatribe against a socialphenomenon Weekes describes as “an apocalypse of vanities.” “It’s a song about different kindof privileges—rich privilege, white privilege, pretty privilege—and the people who occupy thosespaces with very littleor noself-awareness,” he says. Meanwhile, on “SATANIC PANIC,” hereflects on his childhood and the baseless moral hysteria that infiltrated the American consciousness in the 1980s. “My parents weren’t asup in armsas a lot of religious familiesacross the country at the time, but there were definitely things I wasn’t allowed to have as a kid because they were considered evil in some way: Garbage Pail Kidstrading cards, Big LeagueChew bubblegum, those candy cigarettes that blow out fake smoke,” says Weekes. “That songcame from thinking about that now as an adult and realizing that anything can be labeled as evilif your goal is to frame it that way.” One of the most galvanizing moments onGLOOM DIVISION,“Satanic Panic” unfolds with such unexpected flourishes as the fantastically warped saxophonework of Brooklyn-based jazz duo Moon Hooch, then bursts into raw catharsis atits fuzzed-outand explosive bridge.

On “iDIOTS OF Oz,”GLOOM DIVISIONcloses out with an anthemic manifesto against those whowield their negativity as a weapon (from the shout-along-ready chorus: “It doesn’t matter whatyou think of us/We aren’t beholden to the idiots of Oz”). As Weekes reveals, the title to the lushand futuristic track acts as a play on the derogatory but once-commonplace term “idiot savant.”“Years ago I wrote a song that had the words ‘idiot savant’ in the lyrics, and later on I had fanspoint out to mehow that can be offensive,’ he says. “The song ‘iDIOTS OF Oz’ is a way ofchanging that phrase, and hopefully communicating that I want to do better and make everyonefeel welcome.”“iDIOTS OF Oz” also draws from Weekes’ own journeyas a neurodivergentperson. “My whole life I’d been wearing a mask that I didn’t even know I was wearing, and in thepast few years I found out that I’m on the autism spectrum and have ADHD,” he says. “I’m stilllearning about myself in thatregard, but it’s been pretty revelatory to finally startunderstanding that part of myself at 40-years-old.

Looking back on the making of GLOOM DIVISION, Weekes notes that the album restored aprofound sense of playfulness to his process. “It reminded me of playing music with my friend when I was a teenager, when it was all just about having fun and being creative for its ownsake,” he says. Growing up in the Northern Utah town of Clearfield, he first started writing songson a pawn-shop acoustic guitar at the age of 15, fulfilling a then-lifelong aspiration. “One of myearliest memories is being about five yearsold and seeing a guitar hanging in a pawn-shopwindow—I didn’t really even know what it was, but I knew I wanted it,” he says. Namingecstatically mind-bending albums like Beck’sMidniteVulturesand Weezer’sPinkertonamong hisearly influences, Weekes played in bands throughout high school and co-founded an indie-rockoutfit called The Brobecks in the early 2000s, soon opening for acts like Phantom Planet and BenKweller. Weekes launched iDKHOW in 2016 and introduced the band with their debut project1981 Extended Play EP(a 2018 release featuringthe gold-certified single “Choke”). With thearrival ofRazzmatazz, iDKHOW earned praise from the likes ofThe Line of Best Fit, who hailedthe album as a “fun, bizarre, and thoughtful listening experience.”

For Weekes, the writing ofGLOOM DIVISIONserved as a major breakthrough on multiple levels.“Music has always been an outlet to exorcise your demons or difficult emotions, but with thisalbum I really stopped limiting myself when it comes to the subjects I write about,” he says.When matchedGLOOM DIVISION’s pure sonic abandon, the result is a body of work primed toleave a sublimely mystifying impact on its audience. “When I think about all my favorite records,likeThe Soft Bulletinby Flaming Lips andThis Year’s Modelby Elvis Costello, the thingthey allhave in common is that the first time I heard them I thought,What is this?” says Weekes. “Onthe second listen it was more like,This is weird, but I like it, and then by the third time I heard it Iwas absolutely obsessed. That’s my favorite reaction to experience when I’m discoveringsomething new, and I’d love for this album to create that same feeling for everyone.”