The Chicago-based band Dehd released their fifth album “Poetry” last year. Listen for more about their discography and history.
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KATE POLLOT: This year, Chicago-based band Dehd celebrates its 10th anniversary. The band is still comprised of its founding members: singer and guitarist Jason Balla, singer and bassist Emily Kempf and drummer Eric McGrady.
The band released its fifth studio album “Poetry” in 2024. The album both continues Dehd’s evolution — transitioning away from its earlier punk sound — and maintains its indescribable, genre-mixing work. “Poetry” perfectly balances the highs with the lows, weaving optimism and regret into one incredible project.
From The Daily Northwestern, I’m Kate Pollot. This is Sound Source, a podcast about the music scene on campus and beyond.
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KATE POLLOT: The band got its name when Balla and Kempf merged their solo projects, Dream Eagle and Heavy Dreams, respectively. They initially combined the names, going by Dream Eagle Heavy Dreams, before abbreviating it to Dehd. After bringing McGrady on board in 2015, the trio was officially complete.
Dehd released its first album a year later. The self-titled project features the beginnings of the band’s unique sound but with vocals that aren’t quite as cohesive as what the band puts out today.
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KATE POLLOT: The group followed “Dehd” with “Water.” “Water” features the smash-hit “Lucky,” the band’s most streamed song to date. Though the video has since been made private, the music video for “Lucky” features drag performer Alex Grelle, a familiar face for fans. The campy, fun piece was directed by Kempf, another common contributor to Dehd’s music videos. Grelle has worked with the band frequently, starring in the music videos for multiple songs off of “Poetry.”
The band’s next album, “Flower of Devotion,” earned a spot on Pitchfork’s list of the best albums of 2020. Two years later, Dehd released another album entitled “Blue Skies.”
In 2023, Balla and Kempf hit the road to write their fifth studio album “Poetry.” Over two weeks, the duo traveled from New Mexico to Washington to Chicago, writing and solidifying all fourteen of the album’s songs.
“Poetry”’s three most popular songs are “Mood Ring,” “Light On” and “Dog Days.” All three have broken a million streams on Spotify, the only tracks from the album to do so.
“Dog Days” is the album’s standout song. The rousing, catchy, dance-worthy anthem feels like it was made to be performed live. It’s a joyful, optimistic, perfect start to the album.
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KATE POLLOT: “Mood Ring” continues the upbeat themes with a story of newly requited love. “Light On” is less joyful, depicting a relationship ruined by jealousy and self-destruction. However, it’s hard to feel downtrodden with Dehd’s upbeat, groovy and distinctive instrumentals, featuring Balla’s guitar in the background.
On “Pure Gold,” Kempf sings openly about her love for another woman, saying, “Yeah, she’s the kind of girl I could get with.”
Kempf’s androgynous, versatile voice has always been one of Dehd’s hallmarks, and it truly shines on “Poetry,” especially on softer tracks such as “Alien.”
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KATE POLLOT: Another one of Dehd’s trademark characteristics is its relatively sparse instrumental makeup. The band performs with one guitar, a bass and drums; McGrady doesn’t even use a full drum set.
However, the tracks never feel empty or lacking. Instead, Balla’s unique, surf-esque guitar chords and riffs shine through even clearer.
It’s unique traits like this that make Dehd’s sound transcend genres; it’s punk-adjacent, it’s surf, it’s DIY and grunge and so much more.
“Poetry” ends with “Forget,” a slow track that’s both soft and powerful. The song concludes with the line, “We’re never looking back” — a perfect ending to an album full of sincerity, determination and hope.
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KATE POLLOT: Since “Poetry,” Dehd has released a cover of the Pixies’ “Mr. Grieves.”
The band will complete its European tour in early June this year. However, the group could soon venture somewhere much closer to home: Northwestern’s campus. Mayfest Productions presented Dehd as an option on the second Dillo Day artist poll that was released in early January.
Whether Dehd performs on the lakefill in May, continues the “Poetry” tour or takes off on another road trip, it’s clear the band is going places.
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KATE POLLOT: From The Daily Northwestern, I’m Kate Pollot. Thanks for listening to another episode of Sound Source. This episode was reported by and produced by Kate Pollot.
The Audio Editor is Anavi Prakash. The Multimedia Managing Editors are Kelley Lu and Jillian Moore. The Editor in Chief is Lily Ogburn.
Our theme music is “Hip Hop Instrumental 2” by Ketsa, used under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License and provided by the Free Music Archive.
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