Dear Tracks are a shoegaze band fronted by ex-You Blew It! member Matt Messore. Armed with bedroom recordings, Messore swapped Florida for Michigan and settled in Grand Rapids to form a dream pop band, enlisting Victoria Ovenden, Jacob Juodawlkis and Alex Militello to complete the Dear Tracks roster.
Soft Dreams, their newest EP, is a shimmering slice of dreamy rock music. Peppered with jangle and drenched in reverb, the songs are sonic landscapes, surfy and dreamy and not quite of this world. Opener ‘Moment of Clarity’ is the aural equivalent of a faded film of vacation snaps, bleached by light or time or both so that all blemishes are removed, while ‘All The Outs Are Free’ is like Nirvana on a tropical cruise, the vocals decidedly low against the soaring instrumentation.
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‘Alive’ is fast paced shoegaze with a Britpop flavour, all wrapped within a lush curtain of nostalgic noise, while the title track is similarly sensuous, the wistful vocals suspended in the thick swirl of synths and guitars and percussion. As with all the Dear Tracks songs, the soundscapes conjure something colourful and bright, wide open expanses through which we can wander free of whatever mental baggage we lugged to the door.
Soft Dreams is out on 10” vinyl, cassette and digital download on Furious Hooves (who have violet vinyl) and Track & Field Records (who have mint green vinyl). Also, the band are currently touring the US. Check the dates below to see if you can make it to a show:
Artwork by Ryan McCardle