Viral music artist Dreamkid announces sophomore album 'Daggers'
29 May 2024
Newsdesk
Almost exactly two years since the release of his debut, Dreamkid’s stunning sophomore is incoming this month. Pre-order here.
‘Daggers’ continues where his self-titled debut left off. Out on Friday 31 May through Outland Recordings, the magnetic assemblage of fourteen tracks again covers everything from LA surf punk culture, 80s video games and fight movies and toxic relationships. But here, Daggers rises above with a maturity and an even more deeply personal take on the artist’s life, all doused in the unmistakable sounds and aesthetic of the 80s.
Standing as a synth-soaked alter ego that served as a combination of all the elements which had resonated in him from those early days growing up in Durban, South Africa up until now, Ryan Morris aka Dreamkid’s cinematic sound and carefree style has won him a vast and dedicated audience including a whole host of A-list actors, musicians and fellow ‘80s aficionados.
Undoubtedly the first artist in the synthwave genre to go viral on TikTok and Instagram, it is the music he produces which provides a refreshing soundtrack to today’s faux 80s movement of all things Retrowave. The decade has never resonated so clearly than in the present with similar geopolitical drama – it is like the 80s has folded back out on itself in 2024. All we are missing is E.T., The Goonies and The Breakfast Club, but along with Stranger Things, ‘Daggers’ fills in where those voids have been left and serves the same purpose of escape from the world’s problems.
Working again with Pete Maher, the UK’s No1 independent mastering engineer (U2, Peaky Blinders, The Pixies, The Rolling Stones), the album tracks pop with a production quality not often seen in the DIY production scene of synthwave. There is a smorgasbord of menacing retro electro instrumentals, screaming guitar solos and his own brand of vocal driven emo-synthpop or self-proclaimed #blinkwave.
Morris succeeds in fusing genres with life experiences and his intuition, to create another album that is intentionally designed and built to evoke certain nostalgic feelings. In the closing track “Hometown Memories”, he again channels the deepest of childhood memories, as he did with the track “Parents” off the debut.
Instrumentals like “The Highway” and “Alleyway Fistfight” never stray far from the Mitch Murder-esque stylings of retrowave of old.
The soaring synth bass line and cascading melody of “Take Me On Tonight”, which is a collaboration with Metro Station’s Mason Musso, tells the story of a relationship that’s done a complete 180°, but which is open to a positive reconciliation. When asked what the essence of the song is, Dreamkid explains, “It’s about trying to restore an old relationship that didn’t work out because of mistakes you made, and because of the different paths life has taken you both on. It really is a feelgood song though, so hopefully it’ll give people that little bit of hope that they need to fix a broken relationship.”
“Chrissy” is the artist’s de facto instrumental viral hit, released as a single in June 2023. With 3 million plays and 150k reel shares on Instagram along with 1 million plays on TikTok shared over 100k times on Instagram and played over a billion times on the same platform, it also appeared in everything from premier football team reels to syncs with a host of independent Hollywood movies.
“Kids of the Valley” bursts with resplendent and triumphant synth pop and Dreamkid’s unmistakeable guitar solo prowess, recalling all the anthemic tendencies of Van Halen’s ‘Jump’.
If synthwave needed a kick up the backside and if current album pre-sale numbers are anything to go by, then Daggers is set to do just that by attracting a whole host of new fans to the genre.
Daggers is out 31 May 2024 and available to pre-order across all digital music stores as well as physical options on Bandcamp, which include a limited-edition Graffiti Green Vinyl LP and Rad Green/Bad Black Cassettes and 4-page Digipak CD with Lyric booklet.
Dreamkid performs live at Colours, Hoxton Square in London on Friday 31 May in an album release party with roster mates The Last Concorde in support. Tickets are still available here.
