I think that you could make a good argument for the average maker of pop music these days being less interesting than they used to be. Controversial? Yes, but bear with me. In this world where music seems increasingly to be guided by marketing teams and focus groups, where the same templates are continually rehashed, algorithms and social media engagement rule, Instagram images, and celebrity name-dropping seem to be more important than actually making the product – I mean, writing a song – your average pop star often has all the allure of an accountant.
I mention this because Jessica and Steve, the poetry-loving aesthetes behind Higher Selves Playdate, are everything that the above description is not. “They love melodies. They love Baudrillard (yay!). They love Devo and Grace Jones. They love The B-52s and The Buzzcocks. They love bell hooks and Guy Debord. They love yé-yé music. They love the Situationists. They love to dance.”
In short, they are not only my kind of people but they embody the perfect blend of smarts and sass, intellect, and infectiousness that should be at the heart of all great pop music.
And, “Good Dreams” is great pop music built on a unique blend of fuzzy guitars and wonky synths, nursery rhyme-like vibes, and Flaming Lips alternative paths, sugary sonics, and even a lost Mariachi player wandering through.
Pop music was always a fast-moving scene and a place where trends were set, fashions followed, weirdness worshipped, and if you, quite rightly, think that the genre has lost that sense of adventure and whimsey, fun and eclecticism, “Good Dreams” is here to remind you that it doesn’t have to be this way.
