Zoe Rahman Dreamland

Glass Animals release their third studio album Dreamland on Polydor. At the heart of Dreamland lies the quietly enigmatic Dave Bayley, the bands frontman and producer extraordinaire who’s work extends far beyond that of Glass Animals, with credits including Joey Bada$$, Flume, Wale, Khalid and most recently Denzel Curry on the late 2019 single Tokyo Drifting. For Bayley, Dreamland is a nostalgic memoir of his life so far, covering expansive and difficult ground and holding nothing back. It’s packed full of personal experiences, none more emotional than when the bands drummer Joe Seaward was involved in a monstrous bike accident in July 2018 which threatened his life, and that of Glass Animals altogether.

Perhaps the finest recording of this quartet's illustrious career, Dreamland captures the Yellowjackets at the peak of their compositional and performing craft. This band has moved far beyond its peers with this release. The music here is simply intoxicating, full of gorgeous melodies, deceptively intricate changes, subtle rhythmic and harmonic nuances, and flawless playing.

For the project's second release, Floating In Space set out to create an album that gives wings to every butterfly in your stomach. And from the opening note of the sophomore effort Dreamland to the very last tone of the spectacular closing track Earth, each song is filled with so many astoundingly gorgeous frames of optimistic grace that your heart is fit to burst. In 2016, we were introduced to just a small portion of what songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Ruben Caballero was capable of. If his band's debut The Edge of the Light was to showcase the potential of the project, Dreamland is the stunning realization of that potential…

Italian pianist turned DJ Robert Miles scored a massive international hit with his wonderful, dreamy dance cut "Children" (one of the 1990s biggest and best dance hits) from his debut album Dreamland. The album at times sounds as if it were one continuous song (or set of beats with similar chord progressions) stretched over an hour, which may detract some, but, in essence, is what makes his sonic dreamscape so engaging. It's at once both dancefloor and chill out material; one of those discs where one can hit the play button, drift into a different dimension, and forget about worldly worries. Dreamland, which is both melancholy and blissful, succeeds in its simplicity. Highlights include the second single, "Fable," which continues with the same formula he utilized in "Children," this time using ethereal female chant-like vocals (also included is an instrumental version of "Fable").

At their best, cover albums have a strange way of galvanizing an artist by returning to the songs that inspired them; the artists can find the reason why they made music in the first place, perhaps finding a new reason to make music. Robert Plant's Dreamland – his first solo album in nearly ten years and one of the best records he's ever done, either as a solo artist or as a member of Led Zeppelin – fulfills that simple definition of a covers album and goes beyond it, finding Plant sounding reinvigorated and as restless as a new artist…

At their best, cover albums have a strange way of galvanizing an artist by returning to the songs that inspired them; the artists can find the reason why they made music in the first place, perhaps finding a new reason to make music. Robert Plant's Dreamland – his first solo album in nearly ten years and one of the best records he's ever done, either as a solo artist or as a member of Led Zeppelin – fulfills that simple definition of a covers album and goes beyond it, finding Plant sounding reinvigorated and as restless as a new artist…

It all started when guitarist Erich Lehna and Davide Swarup met and played in Goa for the first time. The journey then went on with violinist Julien Moretto, flutist and percussionist Fatima Gozlan and Constantin Kayatma on electronics. Highly influenced by Indian music and spirituality, these 5 talented artists explore the path where the flower of life blossoms, where sounds become one, where souls find oneness.

‘Dreamland’ is the first single from their forthcoming – as yet unnamed – album and features Years & Years. The five-track CD single features two remixes and new other songs. ‘An Open Mind’ is a non-album track from the sessions, while ‘No Boundaries’ taken from the stage version of Hanif Kureishi’s My Beautiful Laundrette, which opened in Leicester September 2019.