Category: dream pop

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: INEZONA Shares Brooding and Gorgeous “Stardust”

Singer/songwriter, percussionist and guitar Ines Brodbeck is a mainstay of the Swiss music scene, best known for being the creative mastermind and frontperson of the recording project INEZONA. Her third album, 2017’s Gabriel Sullivan-produced Now featured contributions from musicians, who have worked with Calexico, Bob Dylan, Neko Case, and Giant Sand, and saw her drawing from her Latin American roots.

Brodbeck found a creative soulmate in Sullivan, and Now also became the start of a fruitful and ongoing collaboration Back in 2019, Sullivan was in Switzerland and the pair went to Basel-based One Drop Studio with the members of INEZONA — Fabian Gisler (bass, synths) and Eric Gut (drums) — to work on material that Brodbeck had brewing for some time. The end result, the Sullivan, Brodbeck and Gut-produced Heartbeat seems the Swiss-based outfit crafting harmonically and rhythmically complex material that reportedly move like a constantly flowing stream.

“Stardust,” Heartbeat‘s latest single is a Tarantino film-meets-Spaghetti Western-meets-David Lynch film-like song built around an atmospheric arrangement of shimmering pedal steel, strummed guitar, and a steady groove paired with Brodbeck’s gorgeous, yearning delivery. Thematically, “Stardust” is a homage to the power, beauty and immensity of our planet and the universe we inhabit. The song was originally conceived for a dance piece for dancer and choreographer with Brodbeck performing it solo.

Directed and shot in a gorgeous, cinematic black and white by Pascal Dick in Kandern, Germany, the video features Brodbeck (vocals, guitar) and a backing band of Gut (drums), Daniel Somaroo (bass) and Nick Nobody (guitar). A gorgeous black horse plays a major role in the video: We’re first introduced to Brodbeck riding the horse to her bandmates — and as the video proceeds, we see the band with the horse.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Dzasko Shares Breezy and Nostalgic “Take a Chance”

Diego Zevallos is Lima-born singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer and DJ who splits his time between his hometown and Los Angeles. Zevallos is also the creative mastermind behind the emerging recording project Dzasko. The Peruvian artist’s Dzasko debut EP 2021’s Letters from California was recorded between Los Angeles and Joshua Tree and saw him quickly establishing a retro-futuristic sound.

The Lima-born artist’s sophomore Dzasko EP Auguries of Innocence derives its name from William Blake’s famous poem “Auguries of Innocence,” a piece about corruption and the loss of innocence. Fittingly, the EP’s material sees the Lima-born artist reflecting on corruption and the loss of innocence, inspired and informed by the political turbulence in Lima last year. The EP’s latest single “Take A Chance” sees Zevallos crating an catchy and breezy blend of psych pop, indie rock and electro pop reminiscent of Tame Impala — but dreamier and full of aching nostalgia for a place and time that can’t ever be had again.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Montréal’s Diamond Day Shares Lush and Bittersweet “Noisemaker”

Montréal-based duo Diamond Day features two highly acclaimed musicians in their own right:

  • Vermont-born Béatrix Méthé was raised with the traditional music of rural Québec. Her family moved to Canada when she was baby, and she grew up acquiring Lanaudiere’s regional repertoire from her father, the founder of legendary folk-trad group Le Rêve du Diable. Her mother, a singer-songwriter and fine arts graduate versed in early digital media, inspired Méthé’s own aesthetic. After spending some time venturing deeper into visual art, Béthé moved to Montréal to study filmmaking, but wound up discovering indie and psychedelic folk music along the way. She cut her studies short in 2015 to pursue music full-time, fronting acclaimed outfit Rosier. Rosier’s unique fusion of Québécois folk and indie rock garnered multiple nominations and awards — and lead them to tour across 15 countries with stops at SXSW, NPR’s Mountain Stage and the BBC.

  • Western Canada-born Quinn Bachand grew up in a home where art was omnipresent and the family’s 40-year-old record collection was on an omnipresent loop. As the son of a luthier, Bachand began playing guitars handmade by his father and was touring internationally by the time he turned 12. After graduating from Berklee College of Music back in 2019 on a presidential scholarship, the Western Canadian-born multi-instrumentalist spent time in the Grammy-nominated band Kittel & Co. His involvement in the US folk scene prompted collaborations with a number of like-minded artists, including Chris Thile. In 2019, Bachand began collaborating with Méthé and Rosier, quickly establishing himself as an influential, genre-bending producer.

That initial successful collaboration together led to the duo’s forthcoming full-length debut as Diamond Day, Connect the Dots. Connect the Dots is slated for a Fall 2023 release and reportedly sees the Montréal-based duo crafting a sound that weaves elements of folk, indie rock, electronica, shoegaze and dream pop into a unique take on alt-pop.

Connect the Dots‘ first single, “Noisemaker” is built around tape-saturated organ echo, fluttering synths, blown out beats, a sinuous bass line and lush, painterly shoegazer textured guitars paired with Méthé’s gorgeous vocal. Sonically, the song reminds me a bit of a mix of Beach House and Souvlaki-era Slowdive with a subtle amount of glitchiness.

Directed by Natan B. Foisy, the accompanying video captures the angst, frustration and boredom of rural Québéc with an uncanny, lived-in specificity. “Our friend Natan B. Foisy directed the music video. He grew up in Joliette, Québec, close to me,” Diamond Day’s Béatrix Méthé says. “When we were teenagers, the ‘cool’ thing to do in the winter was ‘drifting’ – ‘faire de la drift’ we call it in French. Natan heard those floating synths and imagined cars drifting in a high school parking lot, at least the slightly trashy Québec version. . . ” Diamond Day’s Quinn Bachand adds “It’s actually illegal, so they had to be pretty low profile when filming it all.” “The video is based around that type of rural angst. And so is the song, in some ways,” Méthé adds. “It’s about detecting parts and patterns in yourself that are ‘not fine.'”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Drab Majesty Teams Up With Slowdive’s Rachel Goswell on Brooding “Vanity”

Los Angeles-based multi-instrumentalist Andrew Clinco, also known for his work drumming in Marriages founded Drab Majesty back in 2011 as a way to create music in which he recorded every instrument himself. For the project, Clinco created the androgynous character Deb Demure. Alex Nicolaou, a.k.a. Mona D (keys, vocals) joined the project in 2016.

Since signing to Dais Records, the Los Angeles-based duo have released three albums, 2015’s Careless, 2017’s The Demonstration, 2019’s Modern Mirror, which saw the project combining androgynous aesthetics and commanding vocals with futuristic and occult lyrics, to create a style and sound that the band’s Demure refers to as “tragic wave.”

Drab Majesty’s forthcoming EP, An Object in Motion is slated for an August 25, 2023 release through Dais Records. Clocking in at 32 minutes, the release actually sits somewhere between an EP and a mini-album, and the effort reportedly marks a new chapter in the project’s legacy story: Written during a 2021 retreat to the remote costal Oregon town of Yachats, the band’s Deb Demure leaned into the neo-psychedelic resonance of a uniquely bowl-shaped 12-string Ovation acoustic/electric guitar.

After early morning hikes in the rain, Demure would record ambient guitar experiments the rest of the day, tapping into “flow states,” in which he would let the sound lead the way. Those sessions were then refined or recreated and then later elevated with contributions from Slowdive‘s Rachel Goswell, Beck’s, M83‘s and Air’s Justin Meldal-Johnsen, and Uniform’s Ben Greenberg.

Fittingly, the EP reportedly holds true to its title, as it captures Demure and Drab Majesty in a transitional state, and evolving while showcasing a series of potential futures from the project.

The EP’s first single, the brooding “Vanity” features a rare guest spot from Slowdive’s Rachel Goswell. Built around shimmering, reverb-drenched 12 string guitar, gated reverb-drenched drum patterns, Demure’s plaintive yet commanding baritone paired with soaring hooks. Slowdive’s Rachel Goswell contributes her imitable, expressive vocal, which seamlessly intertwines with Demure’s vocal in an uncannily gorgeous harmony. Sonically, “Vanity” seems like a synthesis of Lita Ford and Ozzy Osbourne‘s “Close My Eyes Forever,” Sisters of Mercy, Disintegration-era The Cure and Goswell’s work with Slowdive — or in other words, something that will warm the cold hearts of any goth.

The collaboration came as a result of a mutual admiration for each other’s world. “As a long time listener and devotee of Slowdive, a band that literally shaped my DNA as a listener and musician, it was truly humbling to have Rachel offer her iconic vocal stylings to this song,” Demure says. “Her voice is a sonic treasure and unmistakable. I’m infinitely grateful to call her a friend and am still pinching myself wondering —  how did we get here?”

“It’s no secret that I am a long time Drab Majesty fan so when Deb asked me some years ago now if I would be interested in collaborating it was an immediate yes,” Slowdive’s Goswell adds., “Honoured to give my voice to ‘Vanity.'”

Directed by Jai Love, the accompanying video showcases a cast featuring Drab Majesty, Rachel Goswell, Samantha Robinson and Isabelle Rose Nelson, and is shot with a nostalgia-inducing VHS haze that’s full of the heartache of a childhood innocence long gone.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Wombo Shares Meditative “Thread”

Louisville-based trio Wombo — Sydney Chadwick, Cameron Lowe and Joel Taylor — exploded into the national scene with last year’s critically applauded Fairy Rust. Building upon a growing profile, the Louisville-based trio’s follow-up effort, Slab EP is slated for a Friday release through Fire Talk Records.

Recorded by Nick Roeder, Slab EP is reportedly a loose, instinctual grouping of songs that gradually morph into the sort of sonic territory that would be familiar to fans of their experimental and surrealistic escapism, as well as sweeter, stripped down material. Most of the EP’s guitar parts are scratch takes that fit both the dueling energies and intentional imperfections of the songs with overlaid vocals recorded on the same day. The end result is an of-the-moment snapshot of a band that’s settling naturally into their own sound — while being in constant evolution.

Last month, I wrote about EP title track “Slab,” a track built around wiry and scratchy bursts of guitar, relentless four-on-the-floor paired with Chadwick’s dreamily detached delivery singing lyrics that feel and sound like stream-of-consciousness non-sequiturs. “Slab” manages to be forceful yet dreamy and reveals an uncanny sense for catchy melody. The band explains that the lyrics were inspired by a book Chadwick had read about dissociation, and came from improvising lyrics in the band’s basement practice space.

Slab EP‘s latest single “Thread” is a slow-burning and meditative song built around Chadwick’s expressive delivery paired with jangling guitars and sparse yet dramatic drumming. The end result is a song that nods at a familiar melancholy and loneliness that’s grounded in psychological realism.

While sounding as though it could have been released during 120 Minutes‘ heyday, “’Thread’ was originally just a little thing I use to play on piano,” the band’s Chadwick explains. “I showed Joel and Cameron one day when we were messing around at practice and they persuaded me to try and put some words to it and helped me turn it into a song we could play together as a band.”

Directed, filmed and edited by the members of Wombo, the accompanying video for “Thread” is a nostalgia-inducing fever dream that fits the 120 Minutes-like aesthetic of the song.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Los Angeles’ Mirrorball Shares Dreamy “Red Hot Dust”

Los Angeles-based dream pop duo Mirrorball — singer/songwriter Alexandra Johnstone and multi-instrumentalist and composer Scott Watson — features two local indie scene veterans. Following a successful debut back in 2019 with two songs as part of a singles series released on Dangerbird Records, the duo caught the attention of acclaimed producer Chris Coady.

The duo would meet up with Coady at Sunset Sound to discuss and plan their next recording. And over the next few months, they wound up forging a special bond with the acclaimed producer, which resulted in the duo’s forthcoming EP which will showcase the band’s unique dreamy and nostalgic pop sound.

Mirrorball’s latest single “Red Hot Dust” is a gorgeous and brooding track built around twinkling keys, a subtle yet supple bass line and propulsive drumming paired with Johnstone’s gorgeous and expressive vocal. While sonically bringing a synthesis of Beach House, Scott Walker, and 70s AM rock, the song evokes a woozy yet familiar surviving through the perceived end of the world sensation that we’ve all lived through these last couple of years.

Mirrorball’s Alexandra Johnstone explains that “Red Hot Dust” was written “during difficult times as a way of forcing some light to the surface because I wanted to feel like I could go home again at a time when I could not physically go home.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Nat Vazer Shares Atmospheric and Introspective “Strange Adrenaline”

Nat Vazer is a rising, Melbourne-based singer/songwriter, who can trace the origins of her career to learning classical piano between the ages of five and 14. But throughout her life, Vazer has had a long-held fascination with singer/songwriters and bands, having grown up with her family’s record collection from the 60s, 70s and 80s. As a high schooler, the Melbourne-based artist stole her father’s guitar and started to learn Nirvana, The Strokes, and Death Cab for Cutie songs from internet guitar tabs.

In true DIY fashion, and like countless other young, aspiring musicians, she began writing songs in a high school punk bands, and attempting to record that material on old PCs with built-in microphones and free software. 

Vazer’s full-length solo debut 2020’s Robert Muiños-produced Is This Offensive and Loud? was released by Hotel Motel Records in Australia and Perpetual Doom Records here in the States. The album featured hit singles “For A Moment” and “Higher Places” and received critical applause at home and elsewhere: The album was nominated for a 2020 Australian Music Prize and laded on several Best Album of the Year Lists, including NME Australia, The Music, and others across the globe.

Earlier this year, Vazer released “Addicted to Misery,” the slow-burning first single off her highly-anticipated sophomore album, slated for release later this year. Rooted in the sort of deeply confessional lyricism that has drawn comparisons of her work to Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus, Julia Jacklin, and others, “Addicted to Misery” saw Vazer subtly pushing her sound in a more folk-tinged, pop direction: a finger-picked, looping guitar line,. gently stuttering drums and atmospheric electronics were paired with Vazer’s achingly delicate, yearning vocal.

Vazer describes the forthcoming album as a fast cat on a lost highway, searching for the unknown. “Each song on th album is a unique story told through the people, places and memories that have shaken me and stayed with me over time,” Vazer says of her sophomore album.

The album’s third and latest single “Strange Adrenaline” is an atmospheric and introspective track built around reverb-soaked propulsive drumming, gently buzzing guitar paired with Vazer’s achingly plaintive delivery and the Aussie artist’s penchant for heart-worn-on-sleeve, earnest lyricism and catharsis-inducing choruses.

“In the world of ‘Strange Adrenaline,’ there are 2 am diners where it’s too dangerous for lovers to hang, long drives back to childhood places, dark tales of Hollywood, recurring trauma, and visions of global warming and the end of days,” Vazer explains. “‘Strange Adrenaline’ were two words that jumped out at me one late night, while reading a Patti Smith novel.  The phrase captures that feeling of when you’re on the brink of something terrifying but extraordinary.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Happy 42nd Birthday, Victoria Legrand!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Beach House’s Victoria Legrand’s 42nd birthday.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Berlin’s Wind Mile Shares Dreamy and Atmospheric “Alone”

WIND MILE is a Berlin-based emerging and mysterious singer/songwriter, musician and photographer, also known as Antonin Côme. Music allows the emerging Berlin-based artist to shut down the scientific/logical mind and follow his instincts.

Côme debut EP was written during a rather liminal period of his life: between Germany and France, and between his time as a student and adulthood. The EP’s material is rooted in the ambition to craft a coherent batch of songs that the listener can dive into repeatedly — built around guitar arpeggios, glistening synths and propulsive bass lines paired with dreamily delivered vocals.

The EP’s latest single, the dreamy”Alone” is built around glistening guitar arpeggios, twinkling synths, the Berlin-based artist’s dreamy and plaintive delivery and enormous hooks. While sounding indebted to 80s pop, “Alone” is rooted in a lived-in earnestness — and is inspired by personal experience: The one was written between two different conversations with his six new roommates, who were — thankfully for him — becoming his friends. And as a result, the song is an ode to socializing and meeting new friends while reflecting his own need to be surrounded by people.

The accompanying video is comprised of footage of Côme hanging out with friends at various locales in Berlin, playing a house show and pensively hanging out on rooftops. The end result is an intimate visual portrait of a young, emerging artist.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: FRANKIIE Performs “Cruel”

Vancouver-based dream pop/psych pop outfit FRANKIIE — founding members Francesca Carbonneau (vocals, guitar) and Nashlyn Lloyd (vocals, synth, guitar), along with Trevor Stöddärt (drums) and Jody Glenham (bass) — can trace their origins back to 2013: The band’s first lineup, which featured Carbonneau and Lloyd with Samantha Lancaster and Zoe Fuhr, met and rehearsed for what was initially meant to be a one-off gig that December. But at tehe time, each of the band’s members felt such an instant and undeniable creative chemistry that they decided they needed to go at it full-time. Within a relatively short period of time, they wound up touring across much of North America, including opening for The Charlatans on the East Coast. 

The Canadian band’s Jason Corbett-produced full-length debut, 2019’s Forget Your Head featured “Compare,” a lush and shimmering track with the sort of anthemic hooks that reminded me of 80s New Wave and JOVM mainstays Wax Idols. 

Slated for a June 2, 2023 release through Paper Bag Records, the Vancouver-based outfit’s long awaited sophomore album, the Jason Corbett-produced Between Dreams reportedly weaves elements of reverb-soaked dream pop, vintage classic rock, bedroom psych and beachy shoegaze into a seamless soundscape meant to evoke a world in which dreams and reality are part of one continuum, where there are no borders, and magic abounds — seemingly everywhere. 

Between Dreams explores our lived experiences in a world constantly shifting and twisting abruptly around us. “What is the dream and what’s reality? What’s normal anymore and does it really matter because you’re just experiencing it all anyways,” the band’s Nashlyn Lloyd says in press notes. “I think that’s all we’re trying to do: just be in this experience and embrace it fully.”

Francesca Carbonneau explains that the boundary-free feeling emerged when the band started writing the album’s material during pandemic enforced lockdown and thereafter. “It was this weird ‘between dreams’ state because nothing was normal, or at least not how it was and we just had to carry on like everyone else,” Carbonneau says. Naturally, that influenced an overall attitude in which control and power were relinquished to some degree; whatever happened creatively would be explored. “These songs were following a sense of intuition, and not really trying to have them be anything but what instinctively came out. There was no attempt to stick to a certain genre, or take ourselves too seriously.”

Most of Between Dreams‘ material was written at the band’s dark, moldy jam space in East Vancouver, with extra pieces written at home or on writing retreats to rural British Columbia. Some of the album’s songs were written with a rotating cast of collaborators, including previous bassist Vickie Sieczka, new bassist Jody Glenham and drummer Trevor Stöddärt, while others were written with the help of a drum machine they nicknamed “Chad.” (“Chad’s so great, he always shows up on time,” Lloyd quips.) 

Eight of the album’s tracks were recorded with producer Jason Corbett at Jacknife Sound and two with Connor Head at Victoria, BC-based Catalogue Studio. As the band explains, the recording sessions were full of fresh energy and vision: Glenham and Stöddärt lent new angles to the album’s material, while the world’s standstill allowed the band the time to build out the album’s sonic world. (During part of the recording sessions, the band’s Lloyd had to figure out how to sing while nine months pregnant.)

Jeremy Wallace Maclean, best known for his experience composing for film and TV, mixed the album, giving the material a broad, cinematic scope. For Lloyd and Carbonneau, the record marks an attainment of a sound they’ve been chasing for years. Carbonneau quotes Miles Davis: “Man, sometimes it takes a long time to sound like yourself…and this is the closest we’ve gotten so far,” she adds with a laugh.

Earlier this year, I wrote about album opening track “Visions.” Rooted in old-school attention to craft, “Visions” sees the Vancouver-based outfit pairing a laid-back Laurel Canyon/Fleetwood Mac-like groove with a shimmering melody and Carbonneau and Lloyd’s soaring harmonies. The song — to me, at least — evokes a half-remembered, waking dream; the sort in which you have a lingering and unshakable sense of déja vu that you can’t put your finger on. 

“‘When dreams and memories entangle with our present moment, we can begin to question our entire reality. ‘Visions’ is about that feeling, about sensing something beyond what’s happening right in front of you…as if right below the surface, anything you’ve ever lost is there; waiting for you to reach out your hand and grab it back,” FRANKIIE’s Carbonneau explains. “Like déja vu, which is something I experience frequently, a single moment can feel surreal, strange and yet strikingly familiar all at once.“

“Cruel,” Between Dreams‘ third and latest single is a jangling and reverb-soaked, 70s AM rock-inspired anthem that sonically meshes Fleetwood Mac with elements of dream pop and jangle pop — and thematically nods at Carly Simon‘s “You’re So Vain.” Out of the album’s previously released singles “Cruel” features one of the most rousingly anthemic choruses the band has written to date. “In an age of celebrated self-absorption, we were inspired to write this song about a fictitious character that we sing back and forth with. It is essentially an amalgamation of all the narcissists we’ve ever met and in turn we want nothing to do with,” the band says.

The accompanying live footage, captures the band playing the song with a joyful abandon.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Casual War Shares Brooding and Cinematic “Burn”

Split between Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., Casual War — Maria Law (vocals) and Erik Mattingly (guitar) — have been playing together since 2018. The duo initially made a name for themselves playing clubs in Milwaukee and D.C., before gradually evolving their sound towards a dreamier, desert rock-inspired sound — with the duo continuing work on the project remotely. 

Released earlier this year, Burn, the bi-coastal duo’s latest album sees the duo refining their desert rock-inspired sound. Thematically, the album is a self-described soundtrack for lovers lost in the undiscovered country — and stark anti-Western memoir.

The album’s latest single, album title and opening track “Burn” is a slow-burning, broodingly cinematic song built around eerie atmospherics, reverb-drenched guitars, glistening synths and crashing cymbals are paired with Law’s achingly plaintive wailing.While sounding as though it should be part of the soundtrack of a David Lynch soundtrack, the song evokes a woozy and embittering heartbreak.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Katrina Swift is a Bath-based singer/songwriter, musician and creative mastermind behind the emerging dream pop project Lilac Haze. Although she has a background performing across the States and Europe fronting ensembles and orchestras with a classically trained, hauntingly gorgeous vocal, Lilac Haze is influenced by The Cure, All About Eve, Eva Cassidy, Fleetwood Mac, and others, as she combines atmospheric and ethereal textures with a sense of nostalgic romance.

Released a few short weeks ago. Swift’s Calum Wotherspoon-produced debut single “The Ghost That I Once Knew”/”Lilac Haze” features Nightswimming’s Sam Allan (guitar) and Torin Moore (drums) as her backing band. The A-side “The Ghost I Once Knew” is a slow-burning and gorgeous track built around Swift’s soaring vocal and gauzy, shoegazer-like guitar textures that recalls Souvlaki-era Slowdive. The B-side “Lilac Haze” is brooding track that features delicate strings, ethereal synths and dramatic drumming paired with Swift’s achingly tender delivery expressing longing and heartache. Both tracks serve as a breathtakingly beautiful yet self-assured debut.

“In December 2021, I wrote ‘Ghost’ after a period of self-reflection during a time when I felt unsure and lost in my new surroundings. It’s a reflection of the loss of innocence as we mature… a farewell to your old self. ‘Lilac Haze’ however is a song written for anyone who has been affected by loved ones lost to Alzheimer’s and Dementia,” Swift says of both tracks.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Vancouver’s FRANKIIE Shares Gorgeous “Visions”

Vancouver-based dream pop/psych pop outfit FRANKIIE — founding members Francesca Carbonneau (vocals, guitar) and Nashlyn Lloyd (vocals, synth, guitar), along with Trevor Stöddärt (drums) and Jody Glenham (bass) — can trace their origins back to 2013: The band’s first lineup, which featured Carbonneau and Lloyd with Samantha Lancaster and Zoe Fuhr, met and rehearsed for what was initially meant to be a one-off gig that December. But each of the band’s members at the time felt such an instant and undeniable creative chemistry that they decided they needed to go at it full-time. Within a relatively short period of time, they wound up touring across much of North America, including opening for The Charlatans on the East Coast.

The band’s Jason Corbett full-length debut, 2019’s Forget Your Head featured “Compare,” a lush and shimmering track with the sort of anthemic hooks that reminded me of 80s New Wave and JOVM mainstays Wax Idols.

Slated for a June 2, 2023 release through Paper Bag Records, the Vancouver-based outfit’s long awaited sophomore album, the Jason Corbett-produced Between Dreams reportedly weaves elements of reverb-soaked dream pop, vintage classic rock, bedroom psych and beachy shoegaze into a seamless soundscape meant to evoke a world in which dreams and reality are part of one continuum, where there are no borders, and magic abounds — seemingly everywhere.

Between Dreams explores our lived experiences in a world constantly shifting and twisting abruptly around us. “What is the dream and what’s reality? What’s normal anymore and does it really matter because you’re just experiencing it all anyways,” the band’s Nashlyn Lloyd says in press notes. “I think that’s all we’re trying to do: just be in this experience and embrace it fully.”

Francesca Carbonneau explains that the boundary-free feeling emerged when the band started writing thea album’s material during pandemic enforced lockdown and thereafter. “It was this weird ‘between dreams’ state because nothing was normal, or at least not how it was and we just had to carry on like everyone else,” Carbonneau says. Naturally, that influenced an overall attitude in which control and power were relinquished to some degree; whatever happened creatively would be explored. “These songs were following a sense of intuition, and not really trying to have them be anything but what instinctively came out. There was no attempt to stick to a certain genre, or take ourselves too seriously.”

Most of Between Dreams‘ material was written at the band’s dark, moldy jam space in East Vancouver, with extra pieces written at home or on writing retreats to the British Columbia’s rural areas. Some of the album’s songs were written with a rotation cast of collaborators, including previous bassist Vickie Sieczka, new bassist Jody Glenham and drummer Trevor Stöddärt, while others were written with the help of a drum machine they nicknamed “Chad.” (“Chad’s so great, he always shows up on time,” Lloyd quips.)

Eight of the album’s tracks were recorded with producer Jason Corbett at Jacknife Sound and two with Connor Head at Victoria, BC-based Catalogue Studio. As the band explains, the recording sessions were full of fresh energy and vision: Glenham and Stöddärt lent new angles to the album’s material, while the world’s standstill allowed the band the time to build out the album’s sonic world. (Lloyd had to figure out how sing while nine months pregnant.)

Jeremy Wallace Maclean, best known for his experience composing for film and TV, mixed the album, giving the material a broad, cinematic scope. For Lloyd and Carbonneau, the record marks an attainment of a sound they’ve been chasing for years. Carbonneau quotes Miles Davis: “Man, sometimes it takes a long time to sound like yourself…and this is the closest we’ve gotten so far,” she adds with a laugh.

Between Dreams‘ latest single, album opening track “Visions” is rooted in an old-school attention to craft: a laid-back Laurel Canyon/Fleetwood Mac-like groove is paired with a shimmering and breathtakingly gorgeous melody and Carbonneau and Lloyd’s soaring harmonies. The song — to me, at least — evokes a half-remembered, waking dream; the sort in which you have a lingering and unshakable sense of déja vu that you can’t put your finger on.

“‘When dreams and memories entangle with our present moment, we can begin to question our entire reality. ‘Visions’ is about that feeling, about sensing something beyond what’s happening right in front of you…as if right below the surface, anything you’ve ever lost is there; waiting for you to reach out your hand and grab it back,” FRANKIIE’s Carbonneau explains. “Like déja vu, which is something I experience frequently, a single moment can feel surreal, strange and yet strikingly familiar all at once.“

Directed by Brandon Fletcher, the accompanying video for “Visions” is fittingly a hazy and gorgeously shot, romantic dream: We see the band brooding and vamping in a suburban house at golden hour, lush superimpositions and more. The video manages to further emphasize the video’s dreamy air.