Flume and Emma Louise Find Beauty Among the Fractures in New Album, “DUMB”

Wit the release of their new collaborative album, the smartest move that Emma Louise and Flume made was to “make it dumb.”

That shared mantra shapes DUMB, their stunning new 10-track project, where the former’s vulnerable vocals collide with the latter’s unpredictable production colliding in a way that somehow feels both fragile and unshakable. It’s Flume’s first long-form project since the May 2025 release of his collaborative EP with JPEGMAFIA, We Live In A Society, and a stepping stone to his fourth studio album.

The pair’s chemistry, first revealed on “Hollow” from Flume’s 2022 album Palaces, reaches new heights on DUMB. It doesn’t seek to smooth the cracks between the two artists’ worlds, but instead spotlight them.

Flume’s shapeshifting production and Louise’s deeply personal songwriting often lock horns, but that friction is what makes it beautiful.

“Growing up undiagnosed neurodivergent, I often felt dumb—struggling at school, forgetting things, silencing myself to fit in,” Louise said in a statement. “In the studio, whenever we got stuck, Harley and I would laugh and say ‘make it dumb’ to stop overthinking. It worked every time. At first, naming the album DUMB felt irreverent and freeing, but later I realized how deeply it connected to my own fear of being seen as stupid and unworthy. This album is me reclaiming that word, letting go of shame, and promising myself I’ll never abandon my voice again.”

That reclamation is palpable throughout the album, which opens with “All of the Worlds,” a track that immediately breaks gravity. Fluttery synths shimmer and fracture like light bouncing off glass, weightless and extraterrestrial. 

Water imagery courses throughout DUMB, nowhere clearer than on “Monsoon,” where Louise’s crystalline delivery becomes slowly engulfed by glitchy layers until she’s nearly swept away in the storm. Later, on “Feel Ur Love,” her voice pours over like a waterfall, starting slow and steady before spilling into a rush of sharp percussive elements. 

Light itself becomes a motif on “Shine, Glow, Glisten,” which flickers between glossy pop and jagged trap. Its glistening surface shatters into off-kilter rhythms, while Louise’s hushed vocals glide through distorted beats that twist throughout. The effect is seductive and magnetic, yet also unnerving.

Tenderness surfaces too. “Easy Goodbye,” the project’s lead single, places Louise’s delicate vocals against Flume’s warped backdrop, turning imperfection into intimacy as she repeats, “Am I an easy goodbye?” Elsewhere, “Stay” leans into vulnerability, as Louise’s haunting vocals meet alien-like synths in one of the album’s rawest performances. “If I’m being honest, I am not okay. I broke myself to fit the mold you made,” she admits, a lyric that cuts through the atmospheric production with ache.

“Whenver You Want” takes a lighter approach, beginning with an airy melody before Flume laces through it with crashing glitches. “Brand New” pivots again, opening with trickling sounds and snaps before lifting into an upbeat swing that collapses under the weight of distortion, only to surface again at the very end in a gentle refrain: “Hold me like I’m brand new.” The closer, “Truce,” pulls all of this apart. Mesmeric piano strikes and futuristic synths swirl until Louise’s voice is nearly overwhelmed, the album fluttering to its fractured end. 

You can listen to DUMB below and find the new album on streaming platforms here.

Follow Flume:

Instagram: instagram.com/flume
X: x.com/flumemusic
TikTok: tiktok.com/@flume
Facebook: facebook.com/flumemusic
Spotify: tinyurl.com/mvmds3nn

Follow Emma Louise:

Instagram: instagram.com/emmalouisemusic
X: x.com/emmalouisehere
TikTok: tiktok.com/@emmalouisemusic
Facebook: facebook.com/musicemmalouise
Spotify: tinyurl.com/yeyareeh

The post Flume and Emma Louise Find Beauty Among the Fractures in New Album, “DUMB” appeared first on EDM.