Providence, RI based screamo ensemble Dreamwell have today announced their signing to Prosthetic Records and unveiled details of their upcoming second album, In My Saddest Dreams, I Am Beside You – due for release on October 20th. The group have also released their first single from the album – the monumental “Obelisk of Hands” (which debuted yesterday – July 19th – via Sirius XM Liquid Metal “Chaos Hour”, hosted by Matt Heafy!).
Stream “Obelisk of Hands” and pre-order In My Saddest Dreams, I Am Beside You here: https://lnk.to/Dreamwell
Watch the video here:
Of the upcoming album, vocalist KZ Staska comments: “We invested an insane amount of detail and care into every aspect of this album and cannot wait to share it with you. ‘In My Saddest Dreams, I Am Beside You‘ is an exploration of interpersonal relationships and how they are impacted by mental illness, particularly Borderline Personality Disorder, and employs a loose conceptual narrative following a character caught in a waking dream, viewing every aspect of his life through the lens of a heavily distorted reality and struggling to escape from his paranoid nightmares.”
“Obelisk of Hands” bridges the gap between Dreamwell‘s 2021 self-released album, Modern Grotesque, and other material soon to be unveiled on In My Saddest Dreams, I Am Beside You. KZ adds further context on the single: “In ‘Obelisk of Hands’, what starts as a song about sexual openness slowly morphs into a sadder, bleaker song about using sexuality as a substitute for a lack of romantic affection and a temporary, and ultimately empty, attempt to feel less alone.
“The song features our good friend Logan St. Germain who plays bass in the band Anklebiter and was formerly the guitarist and vocalist for the band Lilac Queen. They have an incredible voice and sang the clean bridge a lot better than I possibly could have, and I’m thrilled by the extra dynamic touch that they add to the track.”
The patchwork, stop-start approach taken to create their debut album, Modern Grotesque, served a hard-won purpose as the band refined their line-up and honed their sound. Their early trials by fire stood them in good stead as they started work with a clean slate and contemplated what would later take shape as In My Saddest Dreams, I Am Beside You – their first foray into consciously and deliberately writing an album, start to finish. The result is a blistering take on screamo, with flourishes of post-hardcore and metalcore for good measure.
Dreamwell demonstrates artistic influence drawn from a multitude of genres, from doom to black metal. Some artistic influences – such as Botch or The Blood Brothers – are easily distinguishable, whilst others – such as Khanate, The Mountain Goats or Elizabeth Cotten – are buried deep in the DNA of Dreamwell. The album was recorded at Format Audio in Dover, New Hampshire by Ryan Stack in September of 2022, bringing together a cohesion of sounds and ideas from a group of individuals operating perfectly in tune with each other.
Since their inception in 2017, Dreamwell have been refining and reshaping the parameters of what screamo can be. On In My Saddest Dreams, I Am Beside You, they have provided a structure within which their own chaotic take on the genre is able to flourish.
In My Saddest Dreams, I Am Beside You track-listing:
1. Good Reasons to Freeze to Death
2. Studying the Greats in Self Immolation
3. Lord Have MRSA On My Soul
4. All Towers Drawn in the Equatorial Room
5. Obelisk of Hands
6. It Will Hurt, and You Won’t Get to Be Surprised
7. Reverberations of a Sickly Wound
8. Blighttown Type Beat
9. Body Fountain
10. I Dream’t of a Room of Clouds
11. Rue de Noms (Could Have Been Better, Should Have Been More)
Dreamwell will soon be departing on a USA tour with The Fall of Troy, with further live dates to follow. See below for all dates!
Dreamwell tour dates
July 27, 2023 – Grand Rapids, MI @ Pyramid Scheme *
July 28, 2023 – Covington, KY @ Madison Theatre *
July 29, 2023 – Chicago, IL @ Bottom Lounge *
July 30, 2023 – Cleveland, OH @ Winchester *
Aug. 4, 2023 – Toronto, ON @ New Friends Fest
Sept. 2, 2023 – Potsdam, NY @ Potsdam Park >
Sept. 24, 2023 – Brooklyn, NY @ Saint Vitus Bar ~
Oct. 21, 2023 – Providence, RI @ Dusk <
*=w/ The Fall of Troy & Omerta
>=w/ Sunflo’er
~=w/ Ithaca
<=w/ Usurp Synapse & Frail Body
Dreamwell line-up:
Aki McCullough – Guitar
Ryan Couitt – Guitar
Justin Soares – Bass
Anthony Montalbano – Drums
KZ Staska – Vocals
Dreamwell online:
https://dreamwell.bandcamp.com/music
https://www.facebook.com/dreamwellband
https://www.instagram.com/dreamwellri
https://www.youtube.com/@dreamwellri
https://twitter.com/dreamwellri