dodie Shocks our Ears with “Build a Problem”

dodie releases her already acclaimed debut album Build A Problem via her label doddleoddle. The album includes the singles ‘I Kissed Someone (It Wasn’t You’), ‘Hate Myself’ and ‘Cool Girl’and is available to buy in CD, vinyl, deluxe CD, deluxe vinyl and cassette formats.

“Build a problem” is a line pulled directly from ‘Hate Myself’. dodie found herself with a bit of a problem because she’d already named her previous EP, 2019’s top 5 Human, and the songs she found herself writing for the album really added up to the same idea; the flawed, emotionally erratic, wondrously complex conundrum that is being alive – and Human was taken. But this line seemed to add up to a similar concept; the moments and actions in life that build within us all problems that we don’t even realise we have until we look back and go, “Ohhhh, that’s where that came from.” dodie, whose past is still infiltrating her present and her future, explores all of this and more on her musically ambitious and dreamily intimate record named – what else? – Build A Problem.

At just 25, dodie has already done a lot of living. Some of that has played out online as she made a name for herself as a singer and writer, amassing millions of fans with her disarmingly honest videos and affecting, intimate singing style. She has scored two top-ten EPs, headlined and sold out London’s Roundhouse, and the Hollywood Palladium and New York’s Terminal 5, and become an ambassador for Depersonalisation charity Unreal. It’s hard to believe only now is she releasing her debut album.

 She wrote most of the songs on the album over the past two years. “I think I was going through a crisis actually,” she says now. “I was very unsure of who I was and I was trying to figure it out in music. So I think it’s quite unstable of an album – but it’s definitely honest.”

Though the themes are very heavy and the music is at times painful, Build A Problem is not a difficult album to listen to. The way that dodie crafts songs means she is meticulous about what she puts into a piece; she’s not a throw it all at the wall and see what sticks kind of songwriter. There is a vein of hope running through the record, a way of dealing with the hard emotions at play. “It sounds so lame,” she says of what she wants the album to achieve, “But what I really hope for is understanding. I would love people, whoever they are to listen to this album and be like, I get it. I relate to this.”

“I’d like people to come away from this album knowing what I can do” she says. A single listen to Build A Problem shows she has matured into an exceptional musician, using ancient modes, writing complex string arrangements and imbuing each song with a sense of charming intimacy.

By her own admission, dodie may be a work in progress; problems have been built, mistakes have been made, but with Build A Problem, she’s proven that she is an artist for the ages.

dodie will embark on her biggest North American tour to date in February 2022 following her UK tour in the fall, beginning in Chicago on February 7 and rounding off with a show at Los Angeles’ The Theatre at the Ace Hotel on March 25. Tickets will be available soon; for more details see https://www.dodie.co/tickets/.

dodie -North American tour – February 2022

Monday, February 7 – Chicago, IL Riviera Theatre

Wednesday, February 9 Milwaukee, WI The Rave II

Friday, February 11 – Saint Louis, MO Delmar Hall

Friday, February 13 – Nashville, TN Ryman Auditorium

Monday, February 14 – Indianapolis, IN Egyptian Room at Old National Centre

Tuesday, February 15 – Columbus, OH Newport Music Hall

Wednesday, February 16 – Royal Oak, MI Royal Oak Music Theatre

Friday, February 18 – Toronto, ON Venue TBD

Saturday, February 19 – Montréal, QC Corona Theatre

Tuesday, February 22 – Philadelphia, PA The Fillmore Philadelphia

Thursday, February 24 – Brooklyn, NY Kings Theatre

Friday, February 25 – Boston, MA Orpheum Theatre

Monday, February 28 – Silver Spring, MD The Fillmore Silver Spring

Tuesday, March 1 – Charlotte, NC The Underground

Wednesday, March 2 –  Atlanta, GA Tabernacle

Friday, March 4 – Ft Lauderdale, FL Revolution Live

Saturday, March 5 – Orlando, FL The Plaza Live

Wednesday, March 9 – Houston, TX House of Blues Houston

Thursday, March 10 – Austin, TX Emo’s

Friday, March 11 – Dallas, TX House of Blues Dallas

Sunday, March 13 – Denver, CO Ogden Theatre

Monday, March 14 – Salt Lake City, UT The Union

Friday, March 18 – Vancouver, BC Vogue Theatre

Saturday, March 19 – Seattle, WA Moore Theatre

Monday, March 21 – Portland, OR Crystal Ballroom

Wednesday, March 23 – San Francisco, CA The Warfield

Friday, March 25 – Los Angeles, CA The Theatre at Ace Hotel

Connect with dodie

dodie / twitter / instagram / facebook / youtube