“I’ve got one shot to make it mine.“
The past few years for Dream State would kindly be described as tumultuous. The band has required a rebuild of both the group’s line-up and their sound, while re-adjusting to lay of the land in the turn of the decade. Dream State put their marker down on their new era with seemingly symbolically named Untethered EP that displayed new vocalist Jessie Powell‘s distinct style and fused their historic post-hardcore sound with electronic influences. Now entering their follow up EP an almost year later, the trappings that made Untethered feel as obtuse and alien as it did still unfortunately persist on Still Dreaming.
Evidently more structured and flesh out than its predecessor, the EP rumbles awake with title track “Still Dreaming“, filled with mainly palatable elements. Moving itself between tidy drum rudiments and vocal and guitar hooks, especially on the chorus “Is this a dream or reality?“, it has that inoffensive nature that sees itself pass by.
This does seemingly lead to a pitfall, with spikes and all, for track “Chin Up Princess“. The double-offensive of pitched vocals and synths makes for a jarring listen on the ear. It’s also where the lyricism does become somewhat limiting with “Chin up princess, tomorrow is a new day” and “Lies upon lies, they unfold“. Following track “Calling Out” further rolls out lyrical tropes, dropping a “I’m my own worst enemy“. There is some pleasant layering within the track with builds an atmosphere that does draw the mind into the EP.
Still Dreaming continues on “Anxious State of Mind” which throws up a myriad of clichés about standing up to your mind, no longer feeling alone, and fighting battles. This is a nice sentiment, one that is echoed by many artists of today, but here its execution is too on the nose. Plucked chords with a trance-esque beat and some atmospheric synths does make for quite a nice extended interlude on “Set Free“. Closer “Day Seeker” explodes out of this, and the assertive and stompy beats and riffs do make for an improved listen, it is just remains rather in the lane of what has come before.
While what Still Dreaming does deliver aligns with the style of Dream State in their yesteryears, it all feels varicose. There is likely a styling here that works for those with the right sort of imagination, but for me the well worn tropes are stuck in the forefront of Still Dreaming. The new era of Dream State still looks to be finding its place.
4/10
Still Dreaming is out January 26th and can be pre-ordered here.