| Dream pop | |
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| Stylistic origins | |
| Cultural origins | 1980s, United Kingdom, United States |
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Dream pop is a subgenre ofalternative rock[7] andneo-psychedelia[8] that emphasizes atmosphere and sonic texture as strongly as it doespop melody. Common characteristics include breathy vocals, dense productions, and effects such asreverb,echo,tremolo, andchorus. It often overlaps with the related genre ofshoegaze, and the two genre terms have at times been used interchangeably.
Dream pop came into prominence in the 1980s through groups associated with the UK label4AD, most prominentlyCocteau Twins andThis Mortal Coil, and laterA.R. Kane, who are credited with coining the term. During the late 1980s to early 1990s, the genre saw further proliferation through UK-based artists such asMy Bloody Valentine,Slowdive, andLush alongside US-based actsGalaxie 500,Julee Cruise, andMazzy Star. By the late 2000s, the sound saw renewed popularity amongmillennial listeners through bands such asBeach House.
The term "dreampop" was originally coined by Alex Ayuli ofA.R. Kane to describe the duo's sound in the late 1980s.[9][10][11] The term is thought to relate to the listener's "immersion" in the music.[12]The AllMusic Guide to Electronica defines dream pop as "an atmospheric subgenre of alternative rock that relies onsonic textures as much as melody".[13] According toPaste, the genre emphasizes mood and sonics over lyrics, so that "chords and tracks blur seamlessly into one another so frequently that it can be difficult to even decipher when one song ended and another has begun."[14] Common characteristics are breathy vocals, guitar effects, and a densely produced sound,[13] with "nebulous, distorted guitars" paired with "murmured vocals sometimes completely smudged into a wall of noise."[8] The music tends to focus on textures rather than propulsive rock riffs.[15] Effects such asreverb andecho are ubiquitous, withtremolo andchorus also heard on recordings to achieve the style's "floaty, surreal, cloud-like haze".[3][16]
Dream pop is a distinct genre fromshoegaze, although the terms have sometimes been used interchangeably. The style also overlaps withindie rock,indie pop andsynth pop. According toPitchfork, the term "was always more of a descriptor than a proper genre" and its defining features are "atmosphere, intimacy, a light coating of psychedelia, and, yes, dreaminess."[17][18]
Lyrics are often introspective orexistential in nature,[15] but may be difficult to hear or incomprehensible in the mix.[14] CriticSimon Reynolds wrote that dream pop "celebrates rapturous and transcendent experiences, often using druggy and mystical imagery".[8] In 1991, he suggested this escapist tendency might be a response to the cultural landscape of the UK during the 1980s: "After 12 years ofConservative government in Britain, any idealism or constructive political involvement seems futile to these alienated middle-class dropouts."[8] Similarly, according to Rachel Felder, dream pop artists often resist representations ofsocial reality in favour of ambiguous or hallucinogenic experiences.[19] According toPaste, "Dream pop artists aren't poets—they're painters patching together swaths of sound into a big, beautiful landscape."[16]
Author Nathan Wiseman-Trowse writes that the "approach to the sheer physicality of sound" integral to dream pop was "arguably pioneered in popular music by figures such asPhil Spector and (Beach Boys founder)Brian Wilson."[19] The Beach Boys recorded an early dream pop song, "All I Wanna Do", for their 1970 albumSunflower.[20][21][22] Critic Jim Allen, who cites the Beach Boys as the style's "godfathers", says the song's unprecedented "cinematic dream sequence" production style marks the point "where the dream pop family tree starts to come into focus."[20] The Beach Boys' impact on the genre was not widely acknowledged until the 2000s.[20]
The 1960s work ofthe Byrds influenced the "swoony harmonies" of later British dream pop groups.[8] The music ofthe Velvet Underground in the 1960s and 1970s, which experiments with repetition, tone and texture over conventional song structure, is also an important touchstone in the genre's development.[19]The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967) incorporates what music critic Marc Beamount terms "psychedelic dream pop" in addition to various other styles.[23] Elements of dream pop are also found in Velvet Underground songs such as "Candy Says" (1969).[24]
Music journalist John Bergstrom recognisesGeorge Harrison's 1970 track "Let It Down" as a progenitor of the genre, and has said its Spector-produced parent albumAll Things Must Pass influenced "many guitar-driven, echo-drenched bands [that] have come around since, mixing powerful rave-ups with moody, reflective down-tempo numbers and a spiritual bent".[25]
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A.J. Ramirez ofPopMatters recognises an evolutionary line fromgothic rock to dream pop.[2] The early 1980s gothic-derived "ethereal wave" subgenre, with itseffects-laden guitar sounds and female vocals, led to the dream pop and shoegaze scenes; it was represented byCocteau Twins and labels such as4AD andProjekt Records.[26]Rolling Stone describes "modern dream pop" as originating with the early 1980s work of Cocteau Twins and their contemporaries.[27]AllMusic's Jason Ankeny credits Cocteau Twins' "distinctly ethereal" sound and singerElizabeth Fraser's operatic, indecipherable vocals with defining their label, the UK-based 4AD.[28] According toPaste, the band crystallized their "swelling, euphoric" dream pop sound on the 1984 albumTreasure, with guitaristRobin Guthrie conjuring an array of "woozy textures from his arsenal of effects pedals."[29]
The 1984 albumIt'll End in Tears by 4AD's "dream-pop supergroup"This Mortal Coil[27] was conceived by label headIvo Watts-Russell and featured members of Cocteau Twins andDead Can Dance. The album helped "set the template for dream pop" and associated the formerly gothic-affiliated UK label with the style.[30] The album's 1983 lead single, theTim Buckley cover "Song to the Siren", was an influential work in the genre, and saw success in theUK Indie Chart, remaining there consistently for two years.[30] Other early acts to touch on the style includedLori and the Chameleons,Dif Juz, andthe Durutti Column.[24] According toPitchfork,Vini Reilly of the Durutti Column "embodied the cliché of the suicidal dream-pop guitarist in the mid-1980s" with his "narcotic performances" presaging later acts such asMy Bloody Valentine andGalaxie 500.[31] The Dif Juz albumExtractions (1985) expanded the dream pop sound, incorporating saxophone, shifting tonalities, and off-kilter rhythms.[32]
Film directorDavid Lynch, unable to obtain the rights to This Mortal Coil's version of "Song to the Siren" for his 1986 filmBlue Velvet, enlisted composerAngelo Badalamenti and singerJulee Cruise to record a replacement track. The result was "Mysteries of Love", described byRolling Stone as a significant development of the dream pop sound that "gave the genre its synthy sheen".[27] Cruise's, Lynch's and Badalamenti's 1989 albumFloating into the Night further elaborated on the style and featured theTwin Peaks theme and UK top 10 single "Falling".[27]
A.R. Kane released their 1987 EPLollita on 4AD, with production by Cocteau Twins guitarist Robin Guthrie.[33] Their sound blended effects-laden guitar withdub production anddrum machine backing, among other elements.[34]Pitchfork called A.R. Kane's 1988 debut albumSixty Nine a "crucial document" of the dream pop movement, writing that the group "aimed to emulate an ethereality that could just as easily become nightmarish".[35] The band described their sound as "dreampop", a label criticSimon Reynolds subsequently adopted to describe that group[36] and later extended to the nascentshoegazing scene in the UK.[8] Reynolds called the movement "a wave of hazyneo-psychedelic groups" characterised by a "blurry, blissful sound" and credited the influence of the "ethereal soundscapes" of Cocteau Twins as well as more distorted styles of Americanalternative rock.[8]
In the 1990s, "dream pop" and "shoegazing" were interchangeable and regionally dependent terms, with "dream pop" the name by which "shoegazing" was typically known in America.[37] AllMusic says "dream pop" includes both the "loud, shimmering feedback" ofMy Bloody Valentine and the "post-Velvet Underground guitar rock" ofGalaxie 500.[38] My Bloody Valentine showcased a unique dream pop sound on their 1988 debut albumIsn't Anything, with guitaristKevin Shields employing atremolo-arm technique to produce "an amorphous drone, at once visceral and disembodied".[8] Galaxie 500 provided a "cornerstone" of the genre in their 1989 albumOn Fire, with their downtempo,reverb-laden sound becoming influential.[14] UK bands acts as A.R. Kane, My Bloody Valentine andRide played an influential role in the movement's development.[39] Other prominent acts to emerge from the movement includeSlowdive andChapterhouse.[8]
The 1990 Cocteau Twins albumHeaven or Las Vegas proved an iconic release in the genre.[30]Spin credited My Bloody Valentine's "landmark" 1991 albumLoveless with "crystalizing (and obliterating) the genres of dream pop and shoegaze guitar rock."[40] The UK bandLush became an influential act in the genre during the 1990s, with Robin Guthrie producing their 1992 debut albumSpooky.[39] The 1993 albumSo Tonight That I Might See by American bandMazzy Star reflected a dream pop sound specific to "the glitzy decay that is L.A.", according toPitchfork; that publication called the album a "dream pop classic".[41] The late 1980s dream pop of A.R. Kane and My Bloody Valentine influenced 1990s acts such asSeefeel andInsides,[42] who began incorporating elements such assamples andsequenced rhythms.[43]Ambient pop music is described by AllMusic as "essentially an extension of the dream pop that emerged in the wake of the shoegazer movement", distinct for its incorporation of electronic textures and techniques such assampling.[6]Bowery Electric's 1996 albumBeat was described byLong Live Vinyl as an important touchstone of both dream pop andtrip hop.[32]
The 2007 albumPerson Pitch byPanda Bear combined Beach Boys-influenced dream pop with modernsampledelic techniques, winning acclaim and exerting wide influence.[44] Much of the music associated with the 2009-coined term "chillwave" can be considered dream pop.[45][nb 1] Baltimore duoBeach House's 2010 albumTeen Dream established the group as purveyors of modern dream pop that drew on the "languid reveries" of Cocteau Twins, Mazzy Star and Galaxie 500.[30] The group's success solidified the popularity of dream pop withMillennials.[3]
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