DreamGood – “Paris Novella”: A Journey Through Love, Fear and Ambition
At a point in time, there are things that happen to us that we probably predicted them ourselves. We look at our lives, see how it’s moving and then make assumptions that this or that may happen. Or sometimes there things we want to experience but maybe we lack the confidence to even approach it and make it work. Have you tried predicting your future by staring into a glowing crystal ball? Usually it ends in a massive headache and a bill you never asked for, and breaks us to even not try again. Cinematic art-pop trio DreamGood takes that mystical fortune-telling concept and turns it into an absolute beast, genre-blending record with their new fourteen-track concept album, “Paris Novella“.
The album composed by Mitchell Sloan, Joshua Heath, and Glenn Heath, who have been making music together since 2009, is to pull listeners into a fictional world where everyday human emotions collide with our ambition or our unrealistic desires. It’s like what you want doesn’t feel real but it’s something you’d wanna explore, people might call it dreamy, over ambitious but at the end of the day if it comes true, you feel amazed and confused too, because even you had your emotions mixed up in it. It’s an album that feels bold, especially with how the genres were mixed, it gives every listener something to clinge onto.
It’s all about embracing your contradictions, navigating the messy space between fear and confidence, and realizing that sometimes the predictions we make about our lives end up acting like curses. I like how they make you their music, how the production blends sharp electronic textures, organic instrumentation, and poetic storytelling into an experience that feels deeply human yet delightfully eccentric is something I would say is magnificent. Shall we glance through some of the tracks already?
Giving listeners an explosive welcome is the track “Spaceman”. This track starts like an engine revving up to take off, the synths are loud, drags along but doesn’t overwhelm the vocals, allowing you to ponder on the lyrics. The storyline in here is awesome and was told in a beautiful way. I like it when the track strips the instruments and let’s the vocals and the drums lock in, it feels awesome and good. It has that punchy synth-bass and theatrical vocal deliveries that sets a bold, unapologetic tone, that doesn’t hinder anything. This track to me asks you to be yourself more than ever, why are you covering who you are? Why are you shying away from your intent? If people can be openly explicit about their actions rather than hiding behind being a good person and state their mentality behind their actions the world would be like a spaceman, more open than us having to deal with many trust issues these days.
Now this track “Looking for Love” feels a bit dreamy when it starts, but then shift gears into a smooth, groovy rhythm. I love how it uses soft-funk synth-pop instrumentation to examine the endless chase for romance. The build up is smooth and crazy just like how you chase someone without giving up. At a point you feel like nah, lemme just give up then the track sweeps in these shimmering keyboard chords and a bouncy bassline creating a playful mirror where we watch ourselves look for connection and realize you can’t end the day without someone to bond with. I love the raw vocal delivery in the main lead, it really pulls you in and pushes you to go, then at minute 4 getting to the end, you get this twist in the beats and vocal delivery, it’s really nice, it’s like a vintage disco time where you wanna dance and grab that sweetheart’s waist and tell them your desires. The night dies, and you go home then ask yourself why do we even look for love?
This is a concept album, see track 1 where you wanna be open, make your desires know, and in track 2 you chase that connection and desires, and in here on “Lifeline”, you realize you’re probably living outside yourself. I like how the track strips the mood down into a moody, introvert-friendly alt-pop cut. Like I said there’s a track for everyone, for someone of us, we love our personal space, do what we feel like when we feel for it and not be bothered by many. Because sometimes we don’t wanna associate ourselves with the unpredictable nature of human, because even us, we sometimes do stuffs then end up asking was this really me? Like was I the one chasing that babe or guy? Where did I get that confidence from, then you realize we humans are mostly not predictable.
On “All the Animals“, a track influenced by legends like Leonard Cohen and Quincy Jones, it delivers this brooding atmosphere of retrospection where we ponder on a lot of things about our life. I like the calm smooth vocal delivery, it helps you pay attention, reflect on the whys and whats. Even after everything you’ve been through, you’re here, living and enjoying, but moments ago, it felt like you were never gonna see the next day but here you are, feeling beautiful and ready to go again. The smooth warm melodic raw delivery sits you down and let’s you meditate. It’s a song for your late night drives, it’s a song for when things are crazy and need to calm down!
You know that moment when all you’ve been dreaming about is going to place probably you’d never be? Then reality hits you and you wanna know how the experience will be, then finally it happens and you just can’t even believe if it’s real or not. That’s this track “Never Been to Paris“, it’s an infectious track that just picks you up and pushes you to the dancefloor, where you feel elated when you’re with that special someone. It’s a track that celebrate how special people make you feel, how happy you’re with them and how special they are. It’s got that French house attitude, blended with sharp indie dance energy with a fierce punk sensibilities to it that hooks you and gets you glued to it throughout.
Okay, maybe this is my favorite, the beats just does it for me on “Psychic TV“. The track feels bouncy, and has that nostalgic feel to it. It’s like it transports you to an era of the past with its beats and vocal delivery in the begining. As it grows you realize how modern it feels, it feels bright, has that funky edge to it packed with playful synth hooks that begs you to move. Over time everyone will grow, and when it happens all the memories from our childhood will be lingering in our ears. “Ghost Letter” is that track of what you wish you had known when you’re much younger. The beats has that hip-hop elements in them, whilst it mixes some electronic atmosphere in it delivering a haunting-reflective atmosphere to the listener allowing them to embrace the quiet moments, think about their choices as a kid and what could have been if they made a certain choice rather than what they chose. At the end of the day it’s life, and you needs to give yourself some grace too, you can’t blame yourself for everything even though now you know better.
Now that we’ve confronted the ghosts of our past, let’s see how our “Destiny” unfolds. A track that uses sparse electronic production to build tension. It’s a brooding art-pop piece about being ready to trust the process again. It’s a fictional album, so in here it’s like waiting to see a sign, a direction or an intuition that says it’s okay to try again, keep going and believe this is what you were born to do and you ain’t gonna fail again. Though we may not know what lies ahead, but so far as we’ve been given the vision that all’s gonna go to plan, we believe and push ahead.
If nothing scares you, “Love Will Scare You“. And this track creates an ambient environment that feels soulful, massages your egos, your nerves and say hey it’s okay, go try again you will be lucky this time. Love, especially these days, we all fear it, sometimes we build strong emotional walls around us that we will never love again, but then you meet that one person and everything changes. It makes you question if indeed you were the one that said you won’t love again, cos you’ve been hurt before. I love how gentle the track feels, with hazy synth pads creating a warm, enveloping space that lets your guard down.
I like how this track “Kings” wastes no time and just ushers you into a big tempo atmospheric groove that keeps growing. The beats pounds, whilst big electronic walls of sound come together to create this beautiful feeling where you can express yourself. It consumes you like power, where you feel like you’re unstoppable, above everything and you feel yourself. And I also think it can be a double entendre where if you let power consume you too much like many kings, you may fall in your own ways. I think it’s worth noting that this song was inspired by a drag king show in Sydney. And by that you can see how everyone’s allowed to be themselves, enjoy themselves, have fun and make the most of it and that’s life for me. You don’t have to live to please anyone, be your own king, own your own mistakes, make your moves and live!
“Illuminate” brings a close to our tremendous journey by introducing us to these sparse electronic experiment before swelling into a massive, danceable groove. The track starts with this vocals that feels inviting, before those female kid like vocals sweeps in, inspired by the glowing image of the Taj Mahal, and wraps you with a breathless warmth that celebrate humanity and how some can just be the perfect specimen that brings Soo much joy to us. The sight of them illuminate us, their smile takes our pain away, their touch feels soo magical that we just wanna see their parents right away. This is more atmospheric and have that Indian middle eastern elements in them that feels like you watching an Indian movie about love and the dance scene pops up, it just won’t let your body rest but dance to it!
Whew, what a journey it’s been, are you not entertained? I mean this is an album that deserves your ears and full attention. “Paris Novella” offers a rare kind of ambitious storytelling that’s genuinely fun to dance to. It delivers brilliant electronic production, fearless genre-blending, and an immersive experience that will stick with you long after the final notes fade. Go stream “Paris Novella“, confront your fears and let the future unfold!
Enjoyed that and want more? Check DreamGood on the links below;
English