Category: Dream Pop

Album Review: Eaves Wilder – Little Miss Sunshine

Rating: 8/10

Being a musician trying to make it in this day and age can be a discouraging process. The internet is so over saturated with countless artists trying to get their music out there that it’s easy for one’s music to slip through the cracks. I can attest to that, I’m a musician with 2 monthly listeners on Spotify. This can be disheartening, but the best thing to do is to just keep going. London musician Eaves Wilder experienced this at a very young age. Following the release of her 2023 E.P. Hookey, she considered quitting music altogether, so she stepped back and waited until she found her voice to begin making music again. Now, after a period of writer’s block and an existential crisis, Wilder has returned with her long-awaited debut album Little Miss Sunshine. This album is a prime example of why you shouldn’t rush creativity, because you can tell there was much time and effort put into it. Being more true to herself and her personal music influences, as opposed to succumbing to the pressure of making a hit, Wilder crafts a perfect amalgamation of guitar-driven Alternative Rock, Power Pop melodies, and lush vocals, and this album uncompromisingly drives us through her vulnerability, but all while maintaining a powerful feminist spirit. The track “Just Say No!” highlights the importance of setting boundaries to protect oneself from being taken advantage of, “Mountain Sized” is a self-reflective track that finds Wilder questioning her role or purpose as she tries to navigate young adulthood, and “Ropeburn” is about cutting off toxic people and re-evaluating personal relationships, which all leads to an introspective experience that can resonate with just about anyone, but if this album has an anthem that perfectly summarizes the entire record, it most certainly would be “Everybody Talks.” I haven’t heard a song that perfectly captures the feeling of wanting everyone to shut the fuck up like this one in a very long time, and in a world where people are constantly spewing out their unprovoked opinions and arguing online, this is an important track to hear. It can also be an anthem for introverts. This song takes me back to that lost feeling I had when I was a young introvert trying to navigate life in a society that favors the extroverted. Themes such as these are what makes good genuine music, and if you have the songwriting ability to back it up like Wilder has, your music will move a lot of people. Little Miss Sunshine is an astonishing debut that will resonate with many. 

Written By: Steven Sandoval

Riki Shares New Single “Florence and Selena”

Every time Riki releases new music it’s impossible not to swoon over her angelic vocals and impeccable attention to dreamy soundscapes consisting of retro synth-laden New Wave that explores a myriad of emotions. Her new single “Florence and Selena” is no departure, but the track offers a refreshing sense of balladry that’s absent from modern Pop music. The track will appear on her upcoming album Gold, which is set to drop on November 26th via “Dais Records.” You can listen to “Florence and Selena” below:

Dare Above Nemo Shares New Single “Synergy”

Following his addicting debut E.P. Mimic, Ethan Attwood-Summers under his “Dare Above Nemo” project has shared a follow-up single titled “Synergy,” and it’s just as infectious as his previous work. Continuing the synth-dominated style of Mimic, “Synergy” is a sensual exploration of the hybrid of Dream Pop and Bedroom Pop that Ethan Attwood-Summers has crafted so brilliantly. You can listen to “Synergy” below:

Dare Above Nemo Announces New E.P. “Mimic,” Shares New Single “Everything’s A Countdown”

“Dare Above Nemo” is the Project of singer/songwriter Ethan Attwood-Summers, and following the release of two dreamy tracks that combine the lush and watery guitar tones of “Dream Pop” with minimal but infectious electronics, (one of the tracks being a cover of The Jesus and Mary Chain’s “Just Like Honey”) he has released a new track titled “Everything’s A Countdown,” and it’s just as irresistible as its predecessors. The track, alongside with his previous single “Be Here Now” will appear on his upcoming debut E.P. Mimic, scheduled to be released on February 12th. You can listen to “Everything’s A Countdown” below:

Ready, Steady, Die! Share New Music Video for “Vent”

We’re already in December and it seems like just yesterday I had the incredible pleasure of listening to the debut album of “Ready, Steady, Die!”for the first time. Their debut album Pleasure Ride was released in the beginning of January, which seems like ages ago considering it was a time when we had no idea we were all about to experience a pandemic like no other. The album hasn’t lost its impact though, and in some ways has become even more relevant mirroring our shifting moods due to our moments of isolation, uncertainty, and various coping methods bad or good. Today the band have shared a new beautifully shot in black and white music video for their track “Vent.” The video encapsulates our current state during this pandemic that doesn’t seem to have an ending. Both members Sam K and Morgan Visconti appear in the video but are distant from each other in which i’m assuming is in their own personal homes, but in the video they’re doing what many of us have been doing to stay sane, venting it out with their music and creativity. You can watch the music video for “Vent” below:

Album Review: Ready, Steady, Die! – Pleasure Ride

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Artist: Ready, Steady, Die!

Album: Pleasure Ride

Genre: Electronic/Electronic Rock/Dream Pop

Label: Human Label

Rating: 8/10

We all have our own little pleasure rides. Aren’t we all frequently in search of an ecstasy that will alleviate the inconvenient pains life forces us to endure? More often than not we become addicted to the things that bring us that ecstasy, and i’m not just talking about drugs. Many of us are addicted to sex, caffeine, food, shopping, our phones, social media, pornography, and whatever the Hell else brings us temporary happiness. Now i’m not here to wave my finger, because I too am an ecstasy addict, (not the drug guys, calm down) and the biggest addiction I have is music. God that was corny, but hear me out. Don’t we all like music? I mean, you like music. That’s why you’re reading this right now. Isn’t music the biggest addiction we all have that is completely harmless? Well, unless you listen to your music full-blast through your earbuds. Seriously, take care of your ears guys. When an artist can perfectly hit the nail on the head of the mental and emotional strains we have to deal with on a daily basis, it truly is something special. British-American duo “Ready, Steady, Die!” have crafted an impressive debut album that faces these day-to-day emotions with honest lyrical content and dark but infectious instrumentation. Based between London and New York, the duo consists of members Sam K (composer, vocals) and Morgan Visconti (composer, producer, vocals) who is the son of legendary producer Tony Visconti, and their debut album Pleasure Ride is an immaculately produced album that features shades of the moody grooves of Trip Hop, the walls of distant wailing guitars that inhabit Dream Pop, and the futuristic sounds of Post-Industrial, and I can’t help but picture much of these songs in a David Lynch movie. As familiar as these sounds are, the duo manage to create a style that is very much their own. The instrumentation is otherworldly, but the subject matter is very much of this world. Much of the content deals with self-affliction, self-discovery, and self-acceptance. Ranging from the realization of when someone or something is toxic, and separating yourself is the best remedy, (When Hell Freezes Over) to exposing the hurtful selfishness of others, (Vent) all of these songs are expressed in a hopeful tone that wonderfully contrasts the moody nature of the music, and Sam K’s captivating vocals can range from angelic to sinister, leaving the listener an emotional mess, but a satisfied mess. As inward-looking as much of these songs are, there are standout tracks that look outward such as “The Know,” a song about those who obsessively search for truth. We all know those people, conspiracy theorists, people constantly searching for the truth, truths that are supposedly hidden from us by the government, or maybe and exclusive group of people you know whom you desperately try to discover what they truly think of you, or maybe you’re trying to find the true meaning of life. You can stumble on clues, you can have a peak inside to make sense of all this chaos, but you’ll never be inside the know. “The Know” is as thought-provoking as it is eerie with it’s atmospheric synths, soundscapes, and Hellish guitars, but the song is impressively catchy with it’s groovy bass line and pulsating drum machines topped with Sam K and Morgan Visconti’s perfectly in unison vocals. The title track “Pleasure Ride” is an epic piece that perfectly sums up our addictions to help us forget our mental and emotional strains. “This lack of drive from nine to five is starting to get to me. I take my pill that keeps me ill but makes for a better journey” sings Sam K as she expresses the many things we can all relate to, and that’s that brutal honesty and self-realization in music that much of us need to hear, because much of the music that plagues the airwaves isn’t honest. I mean, I get it, most people use music as a form of escapism, but what good is any form of art if it doesn’t make you think or question yourself or the world? Yes, not all art has to be littered with existentialism and melancholia, but art that features these subjects is usually the most genuine, and “Ready, Steady, Die!” understand that along with the bursts of happiness and optimism we get in life, we have our nightmarish and disturbing moments. There’s no light without the dark, and this band is here to force you to experience that dichotomy. As impressive as this album is, it still feels like a starting-point for the band, which it is, it’s their debut album, but their magnum opus is yet to be achieved, and I have no doubt that they’ll reach that. As ambitious and multi-faceted as this debut is, I feel like they have much more to offer, and given that this is the first of three albums that will be released as a trilogy, the band have room to experiment even further. I’m looking forward to this trilogy.

Written By: Steven Sandoval