Dream pop

Dream pop is a subgenre of alternative rock<ref name="AMDreampop">Template:Cite web</ref> and neo-psychedelia<ref name="ReynoldsNYT" /> that emphasizes atmosphere and sonic texture as strongly as it does pop melody. Common characteristics include breathy vocals, dense productions, and effects such as reverb, echo, tremolo, and chorus. It often overlaps with the related genre of shoegaze, 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 label 4AD, most prominently Cocteau Twins and This Mortal Coil, and later A.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 as My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, and Lush alongside US-based acts Galaxie 500, Julee Cruise, and Mazzy Star. By the late 2000s, the sound saw renewed popularity among millennial listeners through bands such as Beach House.

Etymology and characteristics

Template:Listen The term "dreampop" was originally coined by Alex Ayuli of A.R. Kane to describe the duo's sound in the late 1980s.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":2">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=":3">Template:Cite web</ref> The term is thought to relate to the listener's "immersion" in the music.<ref name="Goddard">Goddard, Michael et al. (2013) Resonances: Noise and Contemporary Music, Bloomsbury Academic, Template:ISBN</ref> The AllMusic Guide to Electronica defines dream pop as "an atmospheric subgenre of alternative rock that relies on sonic textures as much as melody".<ref name="Bogdanov">Bogdanov, Vladimir (2001). The AllMusic Guide to Electronica, Backbeat UK, Template:ISBN, p. ix.</ref> According to Paste, 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."<ref name="paste1">Template:Cite web</ref> Common characteristics are breathy vocals, guitar effects, and a densely produced sound,<ref name="Bogdanov" /> with "nebulous, distorted guitars" paired with "murmured vocals sometimes completely smudged into a wall of noise."<ref name="ReynoldsNYT" /> The music tends to focus on textures rather than propulsive rock riffs.<ref name="allmusic guide">Template:Cite book</ref> Effects such as reverb and echo are ubiquitous, with tremolo and chorus also heard on recordings to achieve the style's "floaty, surreal, cloud-like haze".<ref name="reverb.com"/><ref name=":0" />

Dream pop is a distinct genre from shoegaze, although the terms have sometimes been used interchangeably. The style also overlaps with indie rock, indie pop and synth pop. According to Pitchfork, 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."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Lyrics are often introspective or existential in nature,<ref name="allmusic guide"/> but may be difficult to hear or incomprehensible in the mix.<ref name="paste1"/> Critic Simon Reynolds wrote that dream pop "celebrates rapturous and transcendent experiences, often using druggy and mystical imagery".<ref name="ReynoldsNYT" /> In 1991, he suggested this escapist tendency might be a response to the cultural landscape of the UK during the 1980s: "After 12 years of Conservative government in Britain, any idealism or constructive political involvement seems futile to these alienated middle-class dropouts."<ref name="ReynoldsNYT" /> Similarly, according to Rachel Felder, dream pop artists often resist representations of social reality in favour of ambiguous or hallucinogenic experiences.<ref name="class"/> According to Paste, "Dream pop artists aren't poets—they're painters patching together swaths of sound into a big, beautiful landscape."<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref>

History

1960s–1970s: Origins

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 as Phil Spector and (Beach Boys founder) Brian Wilson."<ref name="class"/> The Beach Boys recorded an early dream pop song, "All I Wanna Do", for their 1970 album Sunflower.<ref name="Allen21"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="violet">Template:Cite web</ref> 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."<ref name="Allen21">Template:Cite web</ref> The Beach Boys' impact on the genre was not widely acknowledged until the 2000s.<ref name="Allen21"/>

The 1960s work of the Byrds influenced the "swoony harmonies" of later British dream pop groups.<ref name="ReynoldsNYT" /> The music of the 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.<ref name="class">Template:Cite book</ref> The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967) incorporates what music critic Marc Beamount terms "psychedelic dream pop" in addition to various other styles.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Elements of dream pop are also found in Velvet Underground songs such as "Candy Says" (1969).<ref name=keymag>Template:Cite web</ref>

Music journalist John Bergstrom recognises George Harrison's 1970 track "Let It Down" as a progenitor of the genre, and has said its Spector-produced parent album All 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".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Early 1980s: Emergence and development

Newspaper clipping of Cocteau Twins, 1985

A.J. Ramirez of PopMatters recognises an evolutionary line from gothic rock to dream pop.<ref name="goth">Template:Cite web</ref> The early 1980s gothic-derived "ethereal wave" subgenre, with its effects-laden guitar sounds and female vocals, led to the dream pop and shoegaze scenes; it was represented by Cocteau Twins and labels such as 4AD and Projekt Records.<ref name="Bernard2013-99" >"L'ethereal wave s'est développée à partir du gothic rock ... Cela est rendu par des effets d'écho, de reverb et de delay très imposants sur les guitares ... On relève une prédominance d'un chant féminin haut perché ou très ample et de voix masculines soufflées, douces at contemplatives. Les paroles sont parfois difficilement compréhensibles ... L'ethereal wave (et notamment les Cocteau Twins) a grandement influencé le shoegaze et la dream pop. Les labels principaux promouvant le genre sont 4AD et Projekt Records."</ref> Rolling Stone describes "modern dream pop" as originating with the early 1980s work of Cocteau Twins and their contemporaries.<ref name="rs"/> AllMusic's Jason Ankeny credits Cocteau Twins' "distinctly ethereal" sound and singer Elizabeth Fraser's operatic, indecipherable vocals with defining their label, the UK-based 4AD.<ref name="all 2">Template:Cite web</ref> According to Paste, the band crystallized their "swelling, euphoric" dream pop sound on the 1984 album Treasure, with guitarist Robin Guthrie conjuring an array of "woozy textures from his arsenal of effects pedals."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The 1984 album It'll End in Tears by 4AD's "dream-pop supergroup" This Mortal Coil<ref name="rs"/> was conceived by label head Ivo Watts-Russell and featured members of Cocteau Twins and Dead Can Dance. The album helped "set the template for dream pop" and associated the formerly gothic-affiliated UK label with the style.<ref name="Best">Template:Cite web</ref> The album's 1983 lead single, the Tim Buckley cover "Song to the Siren", was an influential work in the genre, and saw success in the UK Indie Chart, remaining there consistently for two years.<ref name="Best"/> Other early acts to touch on the style included Lori and the Chameleons, Dif Juz, and the Durutti Column.<ref name=keymag/> According to Pitchfork, 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 as My Bloody Valentine and Galaxie 500.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Dif Juz album Extractions (1985) expanded the dream pop sound, incorporating saxophone, shifting tonalities, and off-kilter rhythms.<ref name="vinyl">Template:Cite web</ref>

Film director David Lynch, unable to obtain the rights to This Mortal Coil's version of "Song to the Siren" for his 1986 film Blue Velvet, enlisted composer Angelo Badalamenti and singer Julee Cruise to record a replacement track. The result was "Mysteries of Love", described by Rolling Stone as a significant development of the dream pop sound that "gave the genre its synthy sheen".<ref name="rs">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Cruise's, Lynch's and Badalamenti's 1989 album Floating into the Night further elaborated on the style and featured the Twin Peaks theme and UK top 10 single "Falling".<ref name="rs"/>

Late 1980s–1990s: Shoegaze scene

Template:Main A.R. Kane released their 1987 EP Lollita on 4AD, with production by Cocteau Twins guitarist Robin Guthrie.<ref name="biography">Template:Cite web</ref> Their sound blended effects-laden guitar with dub production and drum machine backing, among other elements.<ref name="King2012">Template:Cite book</ref> Pitchfork called A.R. Kane's 1988 debut album Sixty 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".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The band described their sound as "dreampop", a label critic Simon Reynolds subsequently adopted to describe that group<ref name="reynoldsretro.blogspot.com">Template:Cite web</ref> and later extended to the nascent shoegazing scene in the UK.<ref name=ReynoldsNYT/> Reynolds called the movement "a wave of hazy neo-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 American alternative rock.<ref name="ReynoldsNYT" />

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.<ref name="Kieron">Template:Cite web</ref> AllMusic says "dream pop" includes both the "loud, shimmering feedback" of My Bloody Valentine and the "post-Velvet Underground guitar rock" of Galaxie 500.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> My Bloody Valentine showcased a unique dream pop sound on their 1988 debut album Isn't Anything, with guitarist Kevin Shields employing a tremolo-arm technique to produce "an amorphous drone, at once visceral and disembodied".<ref name="ReynoldsNYT" /> Galaxie 500 provided a "cornerstone" of the genre in their 1989 album On Fire, with their downtempo, reverb-laden sound becoming influential.<ref name="paste1"/> UK bands acts as A.R. Kane, My Bloody Valentine and Ride played an influential role in the movement's development.<ref name="LA">Template:Cite web</ref> Other prominent acts to emerge from the movement include Slowdive and Chapterhouse.<ref name="ReynoldsNYT" />

The 1990 Cocteau Twins album Heaven or Las Vegas proved an iconic release in the genre.<ref name="Best"/> Spin credited My Bloody Valentine's "landmark" 1991 album Loveless with "crystalizing (and obliterating) the genres of dream pop and shoegaze guitar rock."<ref>*Template:Cite magazine</ref> The UK band Lush became an influential act in the genre during the 1990s, with Robin Guthrie producing their 1992 debut album Spooky.<ref name="LA"/> The 1993 album So Tonight That I Might See by American band Mazzy Star reflected a dream pop sound specific to "the glitzy decay that is L.A.", according to Pitchfork; that publication called the album a "dream pop classic".<ref name="pitchfork">Template:Cite web</ref> The late 1980s dream pop of A.R. Kane and My Bloody Valentine influenced 1990s acts such as Seefeel and Insides,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> who began incorporating elements such as samples and sequenced rhythms.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> 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 as sampling.<ref name="Ambient pop">Template:Cite web</ref> Bowery Electric's 1996 album Beat was described by Long Live Vinyl as an important touchstone of both dream pop and trip hop.<ref name="vinyl"/>

2000s: Contemporary developments

The 2007 album Person Pitch by Panda Bear combined Beach Boys-influenced dream pop with modern sampledelic techniques, winning acclaim and exerting wide influence.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Much of the music associated with the 2009-coined term "chillwave" can be considered dream pop.<ref name="chillinp4k">Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Refn Baltimore duo Beach House's 2010 album Teen Dream established the group as purveyors of modern dream pop that drew on the "languid reveries" of Cocteau Twins, Mazzy Star and Galaxie 500.<ref name="Best"/> The group's success solidified the popularity of dream pop with Millennials.<ref name="reverb.com"/>

See also

• List of dream pop artists
• Shoegaze
• Noise pop
• Ethereal wave
• Vaporwave