BEHIND THE MUSIC: Dunes

Newcastle-based stoner/alt. rock trio Dunes are known for their hard-hitting, hook-laden, fuzzed-up sounds that nod to some of the exciting artists of the 90’s desert rock and grunge scene. The band, who recently signed to US label Ripple Music, are set to release their new album Land Of The Blind on 17^th January, and play at Zerox in Newcastle on Saturday 8^th February.

Here, they give us some insight into some of the tracks that will feature on their exciting new release.

Words: Ade Huggins

Cactus

Cactus opens the album and was primarily written by our drummer Nikky, (who also recorded and produced Land Of The Blind), it’s unapologetically stoner rock. It has a hypnotic riff that plays off the drums; there are nods to bands like Lowrider, Dozer and Kyuss. We wanted to open the album with something that sounds huge but it’s also a patient song. The title is a nod to the desert rock bands that have inspired us but also points towards an otherworldliness, escapism and the benefits of trying to take leave of reality every now and then, however you may choose to do that.

Northern Scar

Northern Scar is a sludgy bastard with an anthemic chorus and brutal ending, in some ways it’s the antithesis of Cactus. If Cactus points towards escapism, Northern Scar is intended to bring you back down to earth and embraces the frustration of people’s attitudes when it comes to doing something out of the norm or being held back because “people from round here don’t do that sort of thing”; that can relate to so many facets of life, and it’s often self-imposed. It features a spoken word piece that could easily be a stand-alone piece. We wanted someone else to write this part and there were a few different people that we had in mind to ask but none of them felt quite right. Then we saw something Nick Carter had posted that really resonated with us. We told him what the song was about and let him do his thing and it’s perfect.

Fields Of Grey

Fields Of Grey was one of the last songs we completed on the album. In all honesty, we almost left it off and didn’t have lyrics when we recorded the demo. We liked the energy of it, and pace-wise it’s a really driving song and it really sits well with the other songs. We persevered and when John came down with the chorus it all fell into place.

Voodoo

Voodoo is about those times when you feel you can’t do right for doing wrong. The track features Ryan Garney from High Desert Queen; we played together when they first came over to the UK in 2022 and we’ve been great friends since then. When we toured together in 2023 he joined us on stage a bunch of times, so when it came to writing and recording the new album we figured it’d be fun to have him on a song. We gave him free rein to add some tasty backing vocals and were so pleased with what he sent back! It has a tasty middle-eight as well, where we flex our metal muscles just ever so slightly, it’s quickly becoming a highlight of the live set.