The sophomore album from I DONT KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME, GLOOM DIVISIONis a glimpse into the gloriously strange wonderland of Dallon Weekes’ mind. Over the course of 12 shapeshifting 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-punk to art-pop, approaching each with equal parts unfettered imagination and exquisite attention to detail. 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, a former member of Panic! at the Disco, GLOOM DIVISIONultimately leaves listeners with the very same sense of euphoric fascination that sparked the album’s creation.

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