Back in May I covered the latest single from dream pop musician and producer Jamie Duddy aka Dreamback. ‘Sometimes’ was a dramatic change in direction from the woozy, laid-back sounds of his Asleep EP to a more direct indie pop song. I was really excited to check out his new EP in full, titled Awake. You can see he is carrying a theme through all his work. Here’s how Duddy describes how he conceived the ideas across both EP’s.
“ The ideas for Asleep and Awake were conceived together, the idea being that Asleep had more dreamy atmospheric sound and Awake a little bit more brighter and direct, ‘poppier’ sound which allowed me to explore influences from stuff like The Shins, Pavement and Rogue Wave”
The EP opens on the upbeat pop sounds of ‘Sometimes’, check out what I thought over here.
Next up is the track I premiered on my DKFM show in July, ‘Maybe She Will’. A call back in style to his earlier work. Its reverb drenched and lush instrumentation compliment his hushed and measured vocal. This is my EP highlight and one I’m sure will be featuring on a lot of summer playlists.
‘Jasmine Molly’, an ode to one of Duddy’s sisters, revisits that Primitives like sound with Duddy trading vocals with his partner Laura Beth. The jangliest guitars remind me of later Ultra Vivid Scene in places, in a spaced out, cosmic sounding way.
The pace comes down for the balladlike ‘Little Trees’. A beautiful, summery guitar jam over Laura Beth’s swoon some oohs and aahs. It’s a very relaxing number.
‘Willow’ reminds of very early Blur from their Leisure period. There something quintessentially English about this song. It might be Duddy’s enunciation or the melody of the song. It conjures up images of London in the summer heat.
The EP closes on the instrumental ’18.05’ his song to his other sister. This song shimmers like a still ponds surface on the brightest day. The heat of the sun is palpable as you let the song was over you. It’s a glorious way to sign off.
Again, Duddy has produced a cohesively written and produced set of songs that lift your spirits and make you smile. Each of his releases tell a story and he keeps impressing me with the consistency of quality across all the tracks.
The Awake EP will be released on July 28 over on the Dreamback Bandcamp page but you can pre-order now.
You can follow Dreamback on social media here ,,,,
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