03 October 2026

THE DHARMA CHAIN – Some Kind Of Pure State (2026, LP/CD, Spinda Records/Le Cèpe Records/Clostridium Records/Echodelick Records/Dirty Filthy Records)

RELEASE INFO:

Label: Spinda Records/Le Cèpe Records/Clostridium Records/Echodelick Records/Dirty Filthy Records

Format: LP, Album, Limited Edition, Black Vinyl (includes lyrics, digital download), 300 copies

Format: LP, Album, Limited Edition, White Vinyl (includes lyrics, digital download), 300 copies

Format: LP, Album, Limited Edition, Transparent Vinyl (includes lyrics, digital download, sticker, A3 Poster), 400 copies

Format: CD, Album, Limited Edition, Jewel Box, 500 copies

Release Date: 5 June 2026

I first crossed paths with The Dharma Chain through “Nowhere”, their 2024 album, and it was not one of those records that simply passed through my turntable and disappeared. It stayed around long enough to earn a place at #36 in my Best Albums of 2024 (CHECK LIST), so naturally, when “Some Kind Of Pure State” arrived, I was curious to hear where this Australian-born, Berlin-based quartet would take their strange little machine next.

Formed in Byron Bay, New South Wales, in 2020, The Dharma Chain relocated to Berlin at the end of 2022, and that geographical shift seems to have become part of their musical DNA. Their earlier work moved from the quieter folk atmosphere of “Angry Young Folk” towards the psychedelic, shoegazing and post-punk territory of “Nowhere”, while their live identity has always been more fluid, with roles shifting between the members. Now, with “Some Kind Of Pure State”, they push that transformation further into a hypnotic collision of neo-psychedelia, krautrock, shoegaze and post-punk, driven by motorik rhythms, swirling guitars, synthesisers and that peculiar tension between beauty and unease.

At the centre of the Chain are Amanda McGrath (vocals, guitar, synthesiser), Benjamin Rompotis (vocals, guitar, synthesiser), Giulia Piras (bass), and Aidan Stewart (drums), joined here by Enrico Semler on guitar, and Jonathan Dreyfus on piano, guitar and viola. Recorded by Dreyfus at Funkhaus in Berlin in December 2025, “Some Kind Of Pure State” feels like a band becoming increasingly precise without losing its appetite for sonic exploration — controlled, yet never completely safe.

Love, addiction and political unease are lurking beneath the surface, approached through suggestion rather than slogans. And perhaps that is where The Dharma Chain work best: somewhere between the hypnotic repetition of krautrock, the blurred emotional edges of shoegaze, slowcore, and the darker pulse of post-punk, with enough psychedelic smoke drifting through the whole thing to keep the destination pleasantly uncertain. Their Australian roots may be thousands of kilometres behind them now, but the Chain has clearly found fertile ground in Berlin. Time to put the needle down and see what kind of pure state they have been chasing this time.

“Some Kind Of Pure State” contains 8 tracks, equally divided on the 2 sides of the LP album. “Inside A New” opens the journey with a quite rhythmic pulse and an intense late-80s Shoegaze feeling, the male-female vocal dialogue adding an enchanted, almost charming quality before the band slowly dives deeper into a neo-psychedelic scenery. “Into The Night” follows with dreamy, soft female vocals floating over a Psych-Gaze soundscape, the mid-tempo rhythm creating a hypnotic atmosphere while the electric guitar goes off on its own little psychedelic excursions, gradually becoming slightly heavier as the track approaches its end. Then comes “Borderline”, driven by a motorik neo-kraut rhythm and Amanda’s vocals, pushing The Dharma Chain beyond the usual Psych-Shoegaze borders with a garage-y attitude and a distinctly neo-psychedelic character; as it develops, the track turns into a magnificent piece of futuristic Neo-Kraut Rock. “Loves Confusion” takes a slower, more hallucinogenic route, beginning in an acoustic-like, trippy Psych haze where Amanda’s mesmerising voice meets Benjamin’s second vocals, while the bass and drums remain amazingly steady yet powerful underneath. Slowly unfolding, it eventually grows into a dream-a-delic Psych-Shoegaze anthem.

“Red Red Red Red Red” (opens side B) keeps the psychedelic electricity flowing, another shimmering trip-a-delic dive into neo-psych territory, with the double male-female vocals blending Shoegaze textures with a darker post-rock attitude. “Cross Over” initially moves in a slow, acoustic and totally Shoegaze-y way, the two voices again sharing the space, before Psych and Shoegaze begin to collide with an intense 90s alternative-indie-post-rock feeling. “Minor Prayer” then kicks everything into a higher gear with a killer speedy bass line, steady and dynamic drumming and Amanda’s female vocals riding over a shimmering, psych-a-dream-a-delic electric guitar sound. There is a punky attitude running through this fantastic tune, and as the guitars become increasingly forceful towards the end, it turns deliciously heavy. Finally, “How Far” begins almost nakedly, with just piano and both voices singing together inside a dream-like, deeply melancholic soundscape. When the rest of the band enters, however, the whole thing is transformed into a Neo-Psych-Shoegaze anthem, moving through heavier passages, suddenly dropping back into an acoustic slow-down and then rising again into another heavy wave, this time carrying a strangely punky, almost cinematic atmosphere. The song finally dissolves into a beautifully hazy ending, leaving the listener somewhere between melancholy, psychedelia and a fading dream…

In conclusion, “Some Kind Of Pure State” finds The Dharma Chain sharpening their own strange Psych-Shoegaze-Slowcore language, where motorik pulses, dreamy guitars, male-female vocals and darker post-punk edges constantly collide. It is a fascinating second step after “Nowhere”, showing a band still moving, experimenting and stretching its sound without losing that hazy psych soul. A beautiful trip into a state that is anything but pure… Dig! TimeLord Michalis