Dirty Dreamer was first founded in 2018 after its members, Louise Gaffney, Daithí O'Connor and Ken McCabe had spent the previous number of years playing together as part of the choice-nominated electro-folk outfit Come On Live Long. By combining the use of synths, electric guitar, processed vocals, distorted beats and live drums, Dirty Dreamer blends a common love for all things electronic with live instrumentation to attain a sound that is both raw and melodically crafted.
The band released their debut single ‘Evaporate’ in 2019 - which currently has over half-a-million streams on Spotify. This was quickly followed by a self-titled EP. Recorded in The Meadow studio in Wicklow, the four-track project was born of a free form approach to making music, as songs emerged from months of experimenting with new sounds and blending ambient electronica with more traditional components of classical composition.
Stick In The Wheel - Drive The Cold Winter Away
I managed to see Stick In The Wheel support Lankum in a small Workman's club in London a few years ago, I loved them but they completely fell off my radar and then my friend sent me this track when it came out and it floored me. The driving synth that chugs along throughout the track is all that is needed to accompany Nicola Kearey's haunting vocal. They are a band that are able make old English folk music in a way that complements their obvious love of electronic music which is something that is not easily done. One of my favourite bands.(Daithí)
Rozi Plain - Silent fan
Rozi Plain writes those type of melodies that you instantly fall in love with but also make you consider how others approach music which is a welcome thought as it gets you out of your own head for a while which is always great! This track was commissioned by Cartoon Network for the Adult Swim single series. It features Rozi's unique vocal and some very cool effected saxophones underpinned by her ever-hypnotic guitar playing. This song exists in its own micro climate.
Noel Hill - O' Rathaille's Grave
The command that Noel Hill has over his instrument is something to behold. This slow air was recorded live in New York on the Irish Concertina 3 album. The rapid burst of notes followed by long pulls of the concertina give this slow air a magical quality. The sound of his fingers gently engaging the buttons of the concertina adds a closeness to the tune. Head back, eyes closed and don't make a mountain out of a Noel Hill....
Radiohead - Desert Island Disk
Radiohead's most recent album A Moon Shaped Pool has had a huge influence on the production of The Everyday In Bloom. Desert Island Disk has a beautiful blend of acoustic instrumentation and electronic ambient. A soft, plodding drum machine kick drum accompanies a hypnotic, folky acoustic guitar riff. Heavily processed, alien sounding textures surround the listener while a close, intimate vocal keeps things grounded. The song has an emergent quality, seeming to grow from nothing, building to a subtle crescendo.
Ben Frost - Theory Of Machines
Opening with bittersweet piano and string loops and a gradually building bassline, layers of ambience and distortion are added, culminating in an earth shattering crescendo of blistering noise. Ben Frost's use of analog gear to saturate and distort his sounds has been hugely influential to our sound. This tune really demonstrates his full range from blissful to brutal.
Kendrick Lamar, Zacari - LOVE.
This song came out around a year or so before Dirty Dreamer came about, and I was (and still am) obsessed with it. The production is just perfect - the growling synth bass, the spacious washed out pads, two distinctly complimentary vocals and a crisp drum machine - every sound has its essential place in the mix, and every element compliments every other element. The sound of the drum machine in this track (the use of pitched elements, how it has been processed, and how it blends with the synth bass) has been particularly influential to me. Combine this amazing production with beautiful melodies and hook after hook and you have something legendary.
Alex G and Oneohtrix Point Never - Babylon
This song is a masterclass in both simplicity and arrangement. It's something I always go back to and appreciate the way it is so consciously structured. It's a beautifully written acoustic guitar and vocal track at its core, and probably could have existed perfectly that way. The light handed touches that Oneohtrix brings to this just lifts it perfectly into a more broody sonic space. Just the right amount of synth and a swelling re-harmonised section that I could literally listen to forever. Feels like that drop in your stomach when you go over a hill in a car too fast.
Mice Parade - Two, Three, Fall
This is a much older piece of music from a band I was very into a long time ago. What really stuck with me about this is how the vocal operated within the track like another instrument. It's delicate and textured and is mixed very low in the track. It's something I've always been interested in with the more ambient material Dirty Dreamer makes. I love finding the line between vocal and instrumental and having the two merge closely. Thinking about my voice as an instrument to compliment the other sounds rather than just a vehicle for words is a nice backwards process but I find it really liberating.
Mount Kimbie - Marilyn
I remember this track being really inspiring when I thought about the Dirty Dreamer project in the very early stages. I remember hearing it and thinking 'I want to make music that's like this'. It's always a band I associate with DD as I remember the three of us crammed into the back room in Benners in Dingle watching Mount Kimbie perform this. I was running a lot at the time and this track was on the playlist I would use. Hitting a pace with this beat and bright toned track always felt amazing and I thought, I'd love to make a track people can run to. The way the rhythmic elements are developed seem to give you a second wind! Those driving off-beat stick hits and rattley percussion. I suppose our track 'Write It On Your Arm' has a bit of that going on.
Atoms For Peace - Ingenue
Around the time we wrote 'Evaporate' I was listening to this piece of music a lot. It's sort of that balance of heavy track but also really beautiful and sort of heartbreaking. I like that dynamic in it. The synths are saying one thing and the vocals another. It's kind of a weird tension. It definitely influenced the synth sounds I was using at the time. I found myself comparing what I could get out of my Tetra to Atoms For Peace sounds a lot.