Music News - Holly Arrowsmith releases 'Blue Dreams' - title track from upcoming album
20 June 2024 - 0 Comments
Holly Arrowsmith releases moving Americana single Blue Dreams, completing her trilogy of deeply personal tracks from her upcoming album, also entitled Blue Dreams, scheduled for release on 26 July 2024 on Leather Jacket Records.
Listen Here
Holly's storytelling in Blue Dreams explores her experience of first-time parenthood, her honest narrative and intimate vocals caressing the song's imagery into the ether. Although these moments are very much her own, they are profoundly understood by many others. Holly says, "I was a first-time parent in the middle of a pandemic, surviving in those early days of chronic sleep deprivation. I realised I had never heard a song about this transition, especially about how hard it can be in those first months when you are so exhausted and trying to work it all out. I felt this huge burden of responsibility, bringing life into such a turbulent world." Finding solace in community, Holly sought refuge in conversation with other people. A repetition of themes emerged: loneliness, worry, exhaustion, loss of identity, evolution, awe, deep love, protectiveness, responsibility. "I wanted to show a real domestic scene, not a glorified one. The often invisible work of Mothers, especially. Those messy, imperfect, sometimes lonely, tender and mundane days with your beautiful baby, time in suspension - for a time."
Blue Dreams begins with multi-tracked acoustic guitar, followed by the warmth resonance of Holly's vocals creating an Americana groove reminiscent of early 1970's Neil Young. Holly skillfully paints a narrative depicting the challenges of retaining your sense of self that is suddenly and unexpectedly consumed by new parenthood. The scenarios are familiar, the ending uplifting.
Holly's journal of musical ideas is teeming with words and phrases, jotted down as they bloom. "The two words Blue Dreams were so beautiful to me that I wrote them down for safe keeping. Sometimes a song just springs from two words like this, and the meaning is revealed in the process."
Holly's innate and honed songwriting talents were celebrated in May, the second time she has taken home the coveted APRA Country Music Song of the Year; on this occasion, Holly's song Desert Dove, also on the upcoming Blue Dreams album, nabbed the award.
Produced by Tom Healy (Marlon Williams, Bic Runga), and accompanied by an all-star cast
of New Zealand musicians (Cass Basil, Anita Clark, Alex Freer), Blue Dreams transports us through the essence of early parenthood isolation to a hopeful and positive familial future.
Blue Dreams is
available globally via all streaming platforms on Thursday 20 June 2024.
The music video for Blue Dreams was shot on film in the beautiful Mackenzie Country of Southern Aotearoa. The wide-open spaces are a contrast to domestic life which can feel constricting at times. Under the direction of Naomi Haussman and Si Moore, Holly wades into an icy cold pond of swans to take a dip in mid-winter; maybe it was a baptism, which becoming a parent is.
Photo Credit: Si Moore
Most Viewed Artists
Latest Galleries
NZ Top 10 Singles
- APT.
ROSÉ And Bruno Mars - DIE WITH A SMILE
Lady Gaga And Bruno Mars - BIRDS OF A FEATHER
Billie Eilish - TASTE
Sabrina Carpenter - I LOVE YOU, I'M SORRY
Gracie Abrams - ESPRESSO
Sabrina Carpenter - SAILOR SONG
Gigi Perez - LOSE CONTROL
Teddy Swims - A BAR SONG (TIPSY)
Shaboozey - GOOD LUCK, BABE!
Chappell Roan
More Content on muzic.net.nz
Google Site Search
100% New Zealand Music
All content on this website is copyright to muzic.net.nz and other respective rights holders. Redistribution of any material presented here without permission is prohibited.
Report A Problem
There are currently no comments for this article. Please log in to add new comments.