Out 27 March, 2026
Via Fearless Records
Words by: Kyra Jade
Don Broco is one of those bands that will continually shift through different genres and keep you on your toes. This is becoming more common than not these days and something I quite enjoy & celebrate. There are only so many notes you can use to create a song and it’s in a musician’s creative nature to explore. Alongside Rob Damiani and Matt Donnelly’s complementary vocals, they’ve enlisted some friends to jump on the record and as far as features go, they’ve nailed their choices. You will have to read on to find out who!
To start off we have the perfect opening track, Cellophane. We are going in nice & heavy with some nu-metal sprinkled throughout and this is a great introduction and indeed a comfort food for someone like myself who opts for the heavier things in life. This quickly broke down the pre-conceived ideas of what I thought Don Broco were all about. Don Broco is doing what feels good for them, this is very clear from the first song.
Just to keep balance and order, the next track Disappear starts off with this soft electronic beat and builds with an epic clean vocal. The kind of song I like to imagine would lure in a typical Triple J listener into their clutches and keep them interested in their music to the point where they start showing up ‘Ra Ra’ gigs or whatever they call it these days.
By track three, Somersaults, I’m getting excited because it’s sounding almost industrial and giving me another angle to what Don Broco’s about. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear Manilyn Manson jump on this as a feature… although this is just my brain trying desperately to marry each song to something rather than letting Don Broco take the wheel.
Nightmare Tripping. It’s heavy, it’s hard and it’s serving up exactly what I want and this is before it gets to Chad Kroeger’s part as a guest vocalist! The video clip accompanying the song is like a Nickelback’s album cover for All the Right Reasons has come to life, (IYKYK). I’m digging this pair up, I think it’s really smart for both parties. This really is a big fuck you to all the clowns who give Nickelback shit… maybe it’s the nostalgia for me but I’m team Don Brickelback.
True Believers sets the scene for our metalcore moment, and a good old fashioned sing-a-long. Gracing this track is non-other than Architects very own Sam Carter and it’s a perfect mash up of both bands. There’s something familiar and comforting about this track. True Believers is here to ‘fuck shit up‘ and definitely the song you want to wind your windows down in the car and scream your heart out to.
Hype Man starts off with a huge electronic/ organ moment and before I knew it went completely into the opposite direction I thought it would. Rather than having a Toccata and Fugue in D Minor moment, it rips into a nu-metal feel and it’s such a catchy song, most likely my ear worm song off the album and another reason why this album is so much fun to listen to. Again, I want to organise and dissect this album but Don Broco is always one step ahead of me, and I love it.
I’ll confess, I’m so lucky because I have a constant stream of new music waiting for me to discover daily and sometimes I’m a slow burner. This is what I truly love about reviewing albums, you get to know yourself deeper with your taste of music and open your mind to bands you would have never checked out otherwise. This is the case for me with Don Broco and I’m keen as mustard to jump on and support them as they celebrate their huge wins within the music industry.
Sit down, press play and listen to Nightmare Tripping ‘cover-to-cover’. Albums are intentional and a lot of thought has gone into the story they are trying to tell you. If Don Broco is comfortable enough to blur the boundaries of consciousness with us through their music, then our only job is to sit back and enjoy.
Until next time, legends!
