Imagine yourself in a dark and messy foreign hotel, your room lit only by moonlight creeping in through the windows. The doors to the balcony are slung open as a translucent curtain hangs in their place, fluttering in the tepid night breeze. You stand, gazing across a city in slumber, with only a pure-white silk bed sheet draped across your body and half a glass of expensive wine in your hand. Dream On by Alice Boman plays on a crackly, weathered old record player tucked away in the corner on a nightstand, filling the room with an eerie, but not completely sombre, atmosphere.
Dream On perfectly soundtracks the tragic love story of a woman whose feelings are not reciprocated, leading her to re-evaluate the next steps in her life. Although, as ever, a period of mourning must take place before she embarks on her new chapter, encapsulated perfectly on tracks ‘Everybody Hurts’ and ‘Heart On Fire’. Yet, for all its insight, the album almost becomes too invested in the narrative and ultimately lacks diversity. On the first listen you’ll struggle to distinguish one song from the next, which – though adding to the album’s ambient nature – is simply frustrating and leaves you craving some identity.
Nonetheless, Alice takes a very gentle approach to each song, carefully balancing deep and cutting emotions with instrumentals that remind you all is not lost. Each track is as dramatic as the last, conveying that overarching, bittersweet message: ‘I’m sad this is over, but here’s to new beginnings’.
Haiku Review
Goodbye to old love,
Boman just misses the mark:
Striking but samey.
Listen to Alice Boman on Spotify and Apply Music, and for more Rodeo, grab out latest mag HERE.
