We already know Bleach Dreamer as a brilliant purveyor of dreamy and lush electro-pop, music that walks a fine line between cutting-edge commerciality and beautiful nostalgia. Now, collaborating with Niki Grossi, the latest two-track release, Girl’s Night digs even deeper into all of those signature sounds and comforting qualities.
“Hold On” is a gorgeously perky piece of energetic pop, but one that is soaked in rich cinematic trappings, both drawn from the here-and-now and the 80s dancefloor. Beats are up front and personal, guitar, or at least guitar-like, riffs are slick and subtle, at least until they come together in a searing solo, and a cinematic soundscape is forged between these elements from liquid electronica. Not just instantly accessible, its theme of having the strength to remain open, honest…vulnerable in a relationship goes deeper than most pop singles care to venture.
Its sonic traveling companion, “Hits Me Like Thunder,” plays with the same blend of past vibes and forward-thinking pop adventurousness, familiarity, and freshness.
But with all this talk of the past, I need to say that this is no exercise in past glories and coat-tail riding. Nothing could be further from the truth. This is music made very much for today’s pop-picker but music that acknowledges that, not only has pop had a rich and illustrious career, but that music is cyclical and those echoes of before continue to bubble up through modern creativity, deliberately and otherwise.
One of the great things about finding ourselves in the “post-genre” world is that the creative timeline no longer seems linear. Now it pushes out in all directions, forwards, backward, laterally, across genres and geographies, timelines and styles, which is why artists such as Bleach Dreamer and Niki Grossi can make music that seems so recognizable and timeless, yet new and exciting.
