There’s no adventure quite like getting lost in a dream. The Day Dreamers have been wandering through one of their own since their female-fronted musical odyssey began in 2013 when guitarist/vocalist Ali Kouri and violinist/vocalist Tiana Grandili founded the group. Back then, the idea was to create indie-folk music inspired by some of their favorite artists - Half Moon Run, The Lumineers, Joni Mitchell, Of Monsters & Men, and Simon & Garfunkel - to create a unique but always inviting sound centered around three-part vocal harmonies.
Over the years, the Montreal-native group has become a melting pot of styles featuring a viral DJ and virtuosic arranger in drummer Cedric de Saint-Rome, a reflective and powerful voice in keyboardist and vocalist Stephanie Maier, and a creative playfulness in bassist Lou Raskin. The five members went to work crafting songs about dreams, adventure, love, and loss.
With their acclaimed 2016 debut album All Through The Night, the band found new dreams realized as they shared the stage with notable performers such as Randy Bachman and Andy Kim while they ventured to perform in a range of high-profile places.
With producer Dave Traina (The Damn Truth), The Day Dreamers put out their 2019 record Forever Again. Once again, the band’s sound is reinvigorated with energy, passion, and an inability to precisely pin-point a specific genre. Their latest single Set Me on Fire is set to release on October 15, 2021, marking the beginning of the end of one of the band's busiest years. In the month of October 2021 alone, The Day Dreamers performed at Osheaga in Montreal, featured on the Québecois talk show La Semaine des 4 Julie, and performed to a sold-out crowd at Petit Campus (MTL).
You can hear the Canadian indie seeping from the pores of The Day Dreamers. They sound like the modern take on the aught bands that were so beloved and the soundtrack behind all the independent films with a coming of age story that still ring in. There’s a hint of Stars, Hey Rosetta! And even to modern starlets of Adrienne Lenker. It’s the perfect fit for an Anton Yelchin or Kat Dennings early career youthful cinematic tale.
“Set Me On Fire” is a vocal-forward song with the lyrics protruding. The message being instead of drowning in deep waters, set me on fire and give me hope and the chance for renewal. It’s similar to these early aught hits in the lyrical potency and the music’s minimalism. You won’t find this in the rest of their discography, there are songs that showcase the entire group’s playing abilities but this one is to showcase their words and some of their ideals as a unit.
It gives the listener a strong intro into what to expect from their work as you can dive deeper.
By Amanda Collins