Category: Dream Pop

“Tremolo” by No Kill

Brooklyn duo No Kill just released “Tremolo,” the first single from their upcoming debut album Gold Chorus.

On first listen, “Tremolo” is soothing despite the distorted guitars and upbeat despite confessions of anxieties – along the same juxtapositioning style of New Order’s “1963”.

No Kill’s sound is reminiscent of the 2011-2013 era of lofi-ish Fender stratocaster style dream pop, although more Trails and Ways and Beach House than Say Lou Lou electro-pop dream pop.

Check out their single on Soundcloud, Spotify, or Bandcamp.

“Endless” and “When The Light Lands” by GULLS

Endless

When the Light Lands

GULLS – a self-described “unsigned 5 piece from all corners of the UK” – released “Endless” this morning, adding another amazing track to this iteration of the dream pop genre.

They sound like very much like Surfer Blood but with a British accent. Fun, at times intense, and toeing the line to bravely express a vulnerable broken-heartedness not often allowed outwardly, GULLS bridges this generation to that of the early 90s and even the more generalized British Isles rock of that era – bands like Touch of Oliver – but with less distortion and more floor toms.

L’été EP – Musique Le Pop

Musique Le Pop just released their “L’été EP” – a five-track collection of Norwegian dreampop for Summer 2014.

Building upon their 80s-influenced “Turn to Sand,” Musique Le Pop spreads out their sound in both directions from their first single. On one end of tempo, “Mateo” lends itself to “Into the Groove” dancepop. “In My Arms” is slower and sadder with Camera Obscura heartbreak vocals. “Falling in Love” has almost a CHVRCHES feel, particularly at the 2:10 mark when the guitar riffs lead the way to two beats of synth chords. The EP ends with “Dream Out Loud” which stands out due to its ethereal, subdued nature, exemplifying Musique Le Pop’s wide range of styles.

“Stone Fox” by Hunter as a Horse

“Stone Fox” by Hunter as a Horse is a trip through music history – a mix of Moon Pix era Cat Power vocals with nu-disco synths at the 1:26 mark, fun roller disco style of variety of instruments (metal tin beats?) and percussions, then moves to a dream pop style overture and breathy vocals at the 2:43, finishing off with library cosmic synths at the 3:26 mark that then slows down to a more typical dream pop. Finally finishing off at 5:17 with dark wave synths building on top of the dream pop breathy vocals.

“Color Theory” by Tea Leigh

This post is about a year late, but it still needs to get out to feature one of BoxSpeaker’s favorite dream pop acts – Tea Leigh:

Some tracks such as “Color Theory” (above) and “Do You Sleep” are epitomic of dream pop – with their beachy Fender Telecaster riffs and breathy vocals.

Then there are songs like “Rushing In” that fall in what Tea Leigh coins “dream folk” – the same vocals but without the breathy sustained effects (like The Knife without the electrobeats) and with an acoustic guitar instead of the Telecaster.

PREVIEW: “Beautiful Distraction” EP by Breakdown Valentine

Breakdown Valentine is set to release their debut EP “Beautiful Distraction” on Thursday, September 26 at the Rickshaw Stop, but BoxSpeaker is giving you an exclusive preview right now!

Breakdown Valentine mixes electro beats with darkwave style synths and an 80s-inspired percussion to give you eerie dancey tracks.

You can buy the EP through their Bandcamp on Thursday and coming to you soon on iTunes!

P.S. They also do a really great cover of Berlin’s “Take My Breath Away” – which isn’t on the EP but totally should be.

“The Lovers’ Suicide” by The Bilinda Butchers

The Bilinda Butchers are a San Francisco-based band that takes a lot of influences from the 90s shoegaze sound, dreampop, and even what sounds like a traditional Japanese sanshin strumming style in some of their songs (first 25 notes of “The Lovers’ Suicide”!)

Even their album art and lyrics show the traditional Japanese art influence. Their album cover has modern (maybe even 60s-inspired) color combinations juxtaposed by the traditional Japanese woodcut art style. And according to their SoundCloud, their lyrics were inspired by Lafcadio Hearn’s story “A Street Singer,” which takes place in Japan and was written in the mid to late 1800s.

The Bilinda Butchers’ style across mediums shows their appropriation of influences not just from one recent era (or even national identity) of sound, sight, and storytelling but across centuries and oceans to create new music. All of this giving even fuller meaning to their work.

[NEW]: “Waterfalls” by Mr. Little Jeans

This afternoon, Mr. Little Jeans released her cover of Paul McCartney’s “Waterfalls,” continuing the oceans theme begun with last month’s “Oh Sailor.”

Adding to Mr. Little Jeans’s list of ethereal, dreampop reduxes of songs, she continues to stand out amongst all the other dream poppers.