Running to Dreamland is the latest album from Don’t Blink. The artist behind the music explains on his Bandcamp page, “While I was writing and recording this music, a whole lot has happened around us. Like any music or art, musicians and painters mirror and reflect what is all around us, I hope in some way, these songs do so, many of these songs were written during the first weeks of the war in the Ukraine, some are very personal I always try to look my truth straight in the eye.”
The album begins with “Spells and Shadows” which greets you with an assortment of instruments. There’s some inventive melodies and I really enjoyed the bass line on this song. I thought the vocals were memorable and accessible. The vocalist sings “It’s like we’re under spell and shadows, have we lost our way in this darkest haze, falling round our day.” It’s nostalgic sounding that’s introspective. I have to admit the lyrics seemed very prevalent to how a lot of us feel these days. It was easy to connect with and felt this way with a lot of the song.
“Walking The Threshold” contains this off-kilter jazz groove. It’s somewhat relaxing and calming but the song finds its own pocket of novelty. The vocals felt pretty optimistic to me but I felt that it was open to interpretation. There are a number of lines that resonated with me such as “Let’s push each other over the line, what ya say, let’s push each other over the line, into a brand new day.”
“We Stand” is another solid song and begins with a unique guitar pattern and drum beat. I loved some of the layers of instrumentation that unfolded and the somewhat dreamy and lush quality to this song. I thought this song also had one of the more memorable hooks on the album.
BANDCAMP: https://dontblink1.bandcamp.com/album/running-to-dreamland
The title track “Running To Dreamland” is one of the highlights on the album. The lyrics are interpretive but the music explores different shades of emotion. At first the song feels playful and joyful but the sort of white noise and atmosphere on the chorus makes it feel like it could turn into a nightmare. There’s also a really well done guitar solo. I thought the tone and texture was just about perfect.
“Five Directions In A Day” is another song that covers you in a dreamlike veneer. There’s a yearning and longing to the song I found quite beautiful. There’s no denying how emotionally resonant the song is. As the song progresses it does get more intense and does feel more optimistic.
The album continues with “From A Whisper To A Scream” and another highlight entitled “When A Weathervane Cries.” Last up is “It’s Complicated” which I thought was a killer tune. I especially loved the bass line on this song.
Running to Dreamland is unique and hard to define. For those reasons alone I recommend you spend some time with this release. There’s a lot to appreciate here.
Heather Savage