Flume and Emma Louise first worked together, publicly at least, on the hit producer’s 2022 album, Palaces, but this partnership has been growing for a while.
Today, the Australian artists drop their new 10-track collaboration album, DUMB, the perfect mix of Louise’s raw, personal songwriting and Flume’s signature expansive electronic sound.
Speaking to Rolling Stone AU/NZ, the pair revealed that though they first released “Hollows” in 2022, they had been writing a bunch of tracks together while based in New South Wales’ Northern Rivers during the COVID pandemic.
“I had a barbecue at Emma’s and we were like, ‘Hey, let’s make some music,'” Flume shares. “So then we just started working a couple of times a week, [Louise] would come over to my studio, and we started making stuff and we were like, ‘Wow, it’s really good. We’ve got a good thing going on.'”
As they both concede, there was no real agenda or plan in place for these songs to be released (“We’re not plan people”, Louise says), but working together in the studio and racking up songs as quickly as they did called for a record to be made.
That seems like an interesting call for Flume to make, especially since he released his first project in two years, May’s We Live in a Society EP with US rapper JPEGMafia, and now working on a new studio album (which is still in its early stages). But for the Grammy Award winning artist, the last few years have just been about having fun with friends and collaborators.
“I’ve just been working, I’ve been lucky enough to be able to work with some of my favourite artists. Whether it’s, like, weird rap stuff or more singer-songwriter stuff, I’ve just been hanging out, making stuff, which is a privilege I have.
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“And now I think I’m like, ‘Alright, I should do another record now’, but I’ve been in this fun phase for the last few years.”
While they aren’t sure what they’ll be able to do with DUMB as far as touring or live shows, one thing is certain: Louise and Flume will be relocating from the US back to Australia in December and January, respectively. And they are both incredibly excited for it.
“I don’t think I ever like loved America,” Louise says.
“I was just here for, you know, opportunity. I really can’t wait to come back to Australia, fucking so excited. My heart vibrates when I think about moving to Australia permanently.”
And with that, they are both very keen to keep working together.
“I think next time it’s gonna be a Flume record is the plan, so we’re kind of working on that,” Flume says. “Emma’s helping me out with that. We’ve kind of become like a little bit of a band.
“We’re a good team, so we’re just gonna keep that going.”
DUMB is out now.
