Recommended Tracks: Into My Arms, Youuu, Nobody’s Baby
Artists You May Like: Bad Suns, The Band CAMINO, Grayscale
Before listening to Dreamland, I read COIN’s own statements about their third studio album. Ryan, COIN’s drummer, mentioned how they “took the dark with the light” and “chose to operate from the beginner’s mind, instead of pretending to ‘know.’” COIN’s frontman, Chase, mentioned that this album is his “butterfly.” Altogether, the band revealed how the album “is about certain uncertainty & loving something so much that you can’t live within it or without it.” These beautiful, yet somewhat perplexing, statements led me to wonder just what COIN had released; excited to find out, I headed off to Dreamland.
After hearing the first three tracks, COIN’s statements about the album come to fruition. There is definitely a desire for love, but there are also questions as to how to obtain love and contain desire. For instance, in “Simple Romance,” Chase sings, “you can try to simplify romance / reduce it to a touch / but maybe we’re in love.” On “I Want It All,” we hear about a relationship that is either on the brink of something more or is about to fizzle out. We are not given the full story or answers on any of these tracks, but that seems to be the point of the album: relating to the ideas and feelings that are presented.
There are moments on this album when you feel like you should be sad, due to the lyrical content, but something prevents that from happening. For instance, halfway through the album, we encounter “Youuu” and “Valentine.” The former track is about how hard it is to see someone moving on, while the latter track is about being devoted to something that has the potential to hurt you. I kept waiting for that moment when I would bawl my eyes out, but the more I listened, the more optimistic I felt. How did these devastating songs bring me positivity?
You can tell that every sound has a purpose on Dreamland. Each track has their own “quirk,” be it a zany riff in the opening or an exposed vocal in the chorus. There are also eclectic pairings of beats or sounds, such as in “Lately III.” The “thrashing” beat that we hear in the chorus is mixed with a string accompaniment – it is all so lovely.
The final track, “Let It All Out (10:05),” is the culmination of Dreamland. Judging from the title, you might think that this was a heavy, cathartic track with a cacophony of sound and feelings. However, it is as light and airy as some of the other tracks that we have already heard on the album. When the choir kicks in, you just let everything go. Here, COIN and the choir give you their permission to let out whatever you are feeling, whether it be the light, the dark, or anything in between.
Overall, I would have to say that my time in Dreamland was not wasted. This album simply is – it is not trying to draw from any one thing or make you feel some type of way. There is a spirit within the tracks that encourages us to be ourselves, no matter how awkward or how uncomfortable that sounds. Life may not always be a dream, but there is no harm in trying to make it that way.
You can stream Dreamland on sites like Spotify or Apple Music.
Catch COIN on their Dreamland Tour here.
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