(Self-released, digital)
French artist Marcel Duchamp helped create Dadaism by casting aside convention, turning his eye toward everyday objects such as a bicycle wheel or a window frame in order to show that art is more than aesthetic beauty. As fellow French artist Jean Arp described the movement, Dada was intended to “destroy the hoaxes of reason and to discover an unreasoned order.”
While no hoaxes of reason were harmed in the making of Dadamama (i), unconventional beauty is front and center on the new EP from Famous Letter Writer, an art-pop outfit from Plattsburgh, N.Y. The record’s themes include the sublime appeal of domestic life and the gorgeous normality of aging gracefully — and, at times, ungracefully.
Composed of married couple M.I. and Ru Divine, Famous Letter Writer are as much an art project as a band. Their music blends poet M.I.’s swaggering yet introspective lyricism with multi-instrumentalist Ru’s lush, melodically minimalist arrangements, which have one foot in glossy post-pop and the other in stark, Krautrock-like sparseness. It is a project obsessed with the very DNA of pop, taking cues from performance artist Yves Klein, Spanish painter and sculptor Joan Miró, and the Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde in equal measure.
An almost constructivist streak beats at the heart of Famous Letter Writer songs, a utilitarian ribbon that runs concurrent to the poetry and ethereal synths. The act of creation and the notion of art as a tool for community building are themes often explored in the band’s catalog, notably 2020’s Warhola.
Dadamama (i) is the first half of a concept record; the second installment is due in the summer. The Devines are two artists raising a family together, and their new EP plays like an uncanny home video, a journal about aging. It tracks an existence that is both mundane and magical.
“This is the day / I sit and watch the children play,” M.I. sings on the opener, “DADAMAMA.” “Doing things that I used to do / They make it seem all so new / Doing things that I used to do / Could you make it feel all new?”
As Duchamp was transfixed by the grounded beauty of life happening all around him, Famous Letter Writer are staring in wonder at their own house. Each of the EP’s six tracks serves as an abstract family snapshot. On “Minecraft,” the Devines beseech their children to take a break from playing video games, only to realize they’re interfering in an act of creation itself.
“Dad, we built it all, we built it all — the snot-green seas!” M.I. sings. “Look, Dad, there you are / you’re in love, and there’s Mom / you’re 16.”
The duo coproduced the album with Keith Zarriello of New York City indie-rock band the Shivers and experimental sound artist Claude Aldous. Ru’s post-punk sensibilities and M.I.’s Lou Reed-meets-James Murphy vocal delivery remain consistent with their earlier work. But Dadamama (i) also glistens with understated synths and electronic pixie dust — a fitting sonic analogy for the small-scale magic the Devines find at home.
Dadamama (i) is available at famousletterwriter.bandcamp.com and on major streaming services now.
This article appears in The Food Issue • 2026.
Got something to say?
Send a letter to the editor and we'll publish your feedback in print!