Dreamwell are preparing to release their sophomore album, and their first under the Prosthetic Records banner later this year. In My Saddest Dreams, I Am Beside You is the darker and more punishing follow up to 2021’s Modern Grotesque.
The patchwork, stop-start approach taken to create 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.
Lyrically the album is an exploration of the hardships encountered whilst navigating interpersonal relationships through the static of Borderline Personality Disorder. The loose narrative structure follows a narrator character who finds himself trapped in a series of unending waking nightmares and reality-distorting hallucinations that force him to confront his fears, mental wellbeing, and relationships as he struggles to differentiate between reality and imagination. Vocalist KZ Staska states that the narrator is a character they embody to convey the cathartic tales that weave throughout the album’s eleven tracks. There is a nod to spirituality within the themes of the album, but hope and salvation remain in short supply; misery reigns supreme.
With 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.
Dreamwell is:
Aki McCullough – Guitar
Ryan Couitt – Guitar
Justin Soares – Bass
Anthony Montalbano – Drums
KZ Staska – Vocals
