16 Dreams A Minute

Description

If the history of rock is marked by successes, often similar in their storytelling, that of Stuck in the Sound is quite particular. - - Having made a name for itself on the Paris indie scene from the very beginning, the Montreuil-based band quickly gained fame through the tours accompanying their first albums (Nevermind the Living Dead in 2006, Shoegazing Kids in 2009, and Pursuit in 2012). But it was when the track ‘Let’s Go’ exploded in France and abroad, revealing a tremendous interest from audiences in North and South America, that the story became memorable. And some 280 million streams later, Stuck in the Sound returns to deliver a sixth album, highly anticipated on both sides of the Atlantic. - - For this new chapter, the band wanted to maintain its independence and free itself from all artistic imperatives, even refusing the ease of the formulas that brought them success. In the studio they built themselves (which speaks to their desire for autonomy!), the musicians explore new territories with the motivation to rediscover the excitement and wonder of their beginnings. For nearly three years, they tested, composed, and recorded, blending the different affinities of each band member. And for the first time in their career, they called upon an outside producer, the young English prodigy Ash Workman (known for producing some of the best records by Metronomy and Christine and the Queens). - - The result is a double album that is as rich as it is demanding, which, while retaining an ‘alternative’ signature, sheds the rock label. ‘16 Dreams a Minute’ is indeed a story of rupture, much like our times. - - Where the previous album was driven by hope (Billy Believe), the band’s expectations have changed, relegating to the realm of ideals what can no longer be. The pandemic has played a role, and a latent resilience runs through this record, reflected in tracks with punk frenzy (‘Sonora’, ‘Tragic’, ‘B/WRainbow’) and songs where post-apocalyptic daydreaming becomes a space for new possibilities (‘Le Soleil’, ‘Free Yourself’). - - Rupture is also a theme in the emotional realm. The mourning of a relationship takes shape in a multitude of emotions, ranging from anger (‘Spatial’), grunge bitterness (‘Dreams’), and melancholy (‘Sensational’) to resignation (‘Adios’) and reconstruction (‘All I’ve Heard’, ‘I Wish You Could Be Happy Again’). These tracks painfully echo those that, conversely, evoke the birth of romantic feelings (‘Visions’), teenage idylls (‘My Sweet Sixteen’), or romantic wanderings (‘East Zion’). - - The challenges are thus present at all levels, personal and universal, reflecting the fragility of the human condition. These sixteen songs are thus sixteen dreams per minute that are born and evaporate in a world undergoing profound change.