Singled Out: DED's A Mannequin Idol (Lullaby)

Michael Angulia | 03-12-2020

Cover art courtesy Press Here

DED just released their micro-EP "Mannequin Eyes" and to celebrate we asked guitarist David Ludlow to tell us about the lead single "A Mannequin Idol (Lullaby)." Here is the story:

"A Mannequin Idol (Lullaby)" is a piece of music that Joe and myself actually started a couple years back in my personal studio in Arizona. It started off as a couple of riffs that I wrote while on vacation in Hawaii. Just jamming on a porch overlooking the ocean. I had really enjoyed the energy of the musical beginning but wasn't sure what exactly we were going to do with it. As soon as I got back home, I immediately went to work constructing a demo to send to Joe. I knew that I liked it, but when Joe came over the next day, he started to lay down his ideas for vocals and we both fell in love with it! Hearing him say the line "Do you really want A Mannequin Idol!?" made me jump out of my chair. The eye-opening yet direct play on words blew my mind. Needless to say, we were both thrilled. We spent the next few days ironing out pieces of the song and were both extremely proud of how the song was shaping up. We continued to chip at parts here and there until him and I were both completely satisfied with what we had come up with. The real magic of the song came when we showed it to our producer Kevin Churko while showing him all the demos we had for the upcoming album. Kevin told us he had some ideas of his own on how he was planning on improving what we already had. He mentioned he was very excited about the possibilities of the track. He told us he had some strong ideas on how to take the song to the next level and asked if we would mind if he took some liberties with it, which of course we didn't mind at all. Joe and I went for lunch, and when we came back, Kevin had taken the demo from being pretty good to being pure magic. It's amazing what a producer like him can do with just a few tweaks here and there, with every move being calculated and incredibly effective. It was the first song that we finalized for the album because we were all so excited watching it come together piece by piece. I wouldn't say slowly, but absolutely surely, the song came together in the best way. It was something of a sculpture, where every small cut and change here and there was bringing it life. It's amazing to watch him work. Joe's lyrics only added to this. It was beautiful seeing Kevin and Joe go through the lyrics, bringing Joe's message to a place where it's universal to any and all listeners. I think it's obvious that people from any walk of life can relate to the fact that the majority of the media are delivering products that can only be taken at face value. True art is so much deeper than that. It has so much more meaning when you put your heart and soul into it. We're extremely proud to share this song and message with the masses.

[Note, aside for the new micro-EP, more music is coming later this year. The band's label Suretone Records has renewed its multiple-year deal with ADA Worldwide for exclusive distribution and DED's forthcoming 2020 album will be the first release under the deal.]

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself as you watch the lyric video below and stream the full EP here.