Dream Date released their self-titled full length album back in February 2020, and we’re absolutely smitten by their dreamy folk style. These songs are poetry and harmony, waltzing together in a slow dance. Despite working as a duo (and having too much gear between them as a result), Tasha Sloan and Sarah Arnold have crafted a beautiful combination of soothing music and great lyricism. The instrumentation in most of these songs are minimal, which provides a strong bed for both Tasha and Sarah to orchestrate their gentle harmonies, full of sentimentality and emotion. The depth and scope of these songs can easily draw you in with each slow-burning piece.
“Stay The Same” opens the album with a wistful and twangy tune. A melancholic slow ballad about a relationship fading away right before your eyes. The heartbreak and pain brimming underneath the lush yet aching melodies: “Isn’t it strange / how we stay the same / just to burn out / with an old flame?” These are songs you really get to know in repeat listens, like an old friend or a well-loved book. Centerpiece “Atonia” is especially inspiring, a large sprawling song inspired by Willa Cather’s novel of the same name. Dream Date takes us to the American prairie, reflecting the emotions and struggles of living in the worker’s fields.
While most of these songs are dreamy, there are also some that (in my opinion) suggest a more grounded and adventurous feeling. I especially enjoy “In Our Blood” for this reason, with its naturalistic sounds and themes of coming home to the earth and getting in touch with your roots. Following track “They Fade” is another with a classic folk/country sound, like we’re pulled into a slow and twangy dance with our sweet memories dancing and fading under the moonlight.
Dream Date’s folk ballads and lush dreamy harmonies could just be what we need to ease the turmoil and uncertainty in our current world. There’s not a lot of art that could touch the troubled soul quite like this dream. And it’s a dream we’d gladly recommend.