DMA'S guitarist Johnny Took is in a happy place.
You can hear it in his voice, and the broad smile he flashes on our Zoom call from his home in Melbourne, reinforces that belief.
Fresh from marrying fellow musician Hayley Mary, of indie band The Jezabels, over the summer, Took carries the wide-eyed optimism you only find in newlyweds.
"It's awesome. It couldn't be better," Took says of married life. "I'm feeling really stoked with everything at the moment.
"I'm feeling very settled and centred. That's a good place to be in before you jump on the road for 18 months."
Took's centre of gravity is about to become upended - albeit in an exciting way - with the impending release of DMA'S fourth album How Many Dreams? followed by extensive European and Australian tours.
Over the past decade DMA'S have become one of Australia's biggest musical exports in the UK due to their '90s Britpop sound.
They've played iconic music festivals like Reading and Leeds, supported Liam Gallagher and Kasabian, and sold more than 65,000 concert tickets in the UK.
However, regional Australian fans have rarely seen the band perform, but that's about to change after DMA'S announced a spring tour.
"I have no idea why it took so long to do it, but here we are," Took says.
"I'm really excited because the live show is at the best place. We're onto our fourth album, we've been a band for 10 years now and we've been able to incorporate all the best tracks off the four records.
"It's made the live show better than it's ever been and it's nice going into a tour with that kind of confidence."
DMA'S began life tearing up stages around Sydney's inner-west in the early 2010s as a melodic singalong rock band in the vein of Oasis, and followed that palette on the albums Hills End (2016) and For Now (2018).
By the time they reached 2020's The Glow their sound had taken a electronic transformation, inspired by the Happy Mondays, New Order and Primal Scream, under producer Stuart Price (The Killers, Dua Lipa).
Price stepped in again on How Many Dreams? along with Rich Costey (Sigur Ros, Muse) in London, before the record was completed in Sydney with Konstantin Kersting (Mallrat, Jungle Giants).
In Took's mind How Many Dreams? brings together the three contrasting styles of DMA'S - wall-of-sound guitars, melodic ballads and euphoric synth-rock.
"I feel like before The Glow DMA'S were very much a throwback '90s guitar band," he says. "Then working with Stuart Price we learnt so much off him, especially bringing DMA'S into a more modern context.
"When the pandemic hit we were given the keys to this world and incorporating different facets of production into our music, opening up to the world of using samples and incorporating electronic elements into the sound.
"Then we had two years off because we couldn't tour. I spent two years in the studio having fun and mucking around with those elements.
"We opened the door with The Glow, but I feel like we've walked through it with How Many Dreams?"
DMA'S have always proudly worn their influences on their sleeves. Singles like Olympia, Fading Like A Picture and Dear Future encapsulate that classic euphoric DMA'S sound, that's been inspired by the likes of The Prodigy, The Verve, New Order and The Stones Roses.
But there's also some surprises for long-term fans.
Jai Alai, written by guitarist Matt Mason about the obscure squash-like sport popular in the Philippines and Florida, begins as a piano ballad before vocalist Tommy O'Dell and a wall of guitars carry it into epic territory.
Another surprise is the riff-driven Get Ravey, which was written by Took after listening to Sonic Youth.
"I never really listened to Sonic Youth and decided to listen to them and that guitar riff you hear at the start was my version of something like that," he says.
"Then it evolved into something quite different. I love listening to different music and getting inspired by it and trying to incorporate it into your own style."
DMA'S release How Many Dreams? on March 31. The tour visits the Theatre Royal, Castlemaine (September 25); The Cube, Wodonga (October 10); Kambri, Canberra (October 11); Anita's Theatre, Thirroul (October 13); Bar On The Hill, Newcastle (October 20); Hoey Moey, Coffs Harbour (October 21) and Kingscliff Hotel (October 22).
