''Dream Songs'' is the debut solo album by Canadian musician

Devon Welsh Devon Welsh (born September 3, 1988) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. From 2010 to 2016, he was the frontman of the electropop duo Majical Cloudz. He released his debut solo album, '' Dream Songs'', in 2018. Early life and education Welsh wa ...

. It was self-released through digital download on August 24, 2018 on Welsh's own label You Are Accepted. It was Welsh's first studio album as a solo artist since he and producer Matthew Otto concluded their musical project

Majical Cloudz Majical Cloudz was a Canadian music group from Montreal consisting of singer-songwriter Devon Welsh and Matt Otto. The group disbanded in March 2016. History Welsh, the son of actor Kenneth Welsh and Corinne Farago,Braids A braid (also referred to as a plait) is a complex structure or pattern formed by interlacing two or more strands of flexible material such as textile yarns, wire, or hair. The simplest and most common version is a flat, solid, three-strande ...

' Austin Tufts in his

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

studio. The album marked a clear departure from the electronic pop sound of Welsh's previous work to a more melodic,

chamber pop Chamber pop (or Chamber rock; also called baroque pop and sometimes conflated with orchestral pop or symphonic pop) is a music genre that combines rock music with the intricate use of string section, strings, horn section, horns, piano, and voca ...

sound with traditional instruments like guitar, piano, and orchestral strings.

Release

''Dream Songs'' was self-released by Welsh through his own newly-created record label You Are Accepted. In contrast, the last two

Majical Cloudz Majical Cloudz was a Canadian music group from Montreal consisting of singer-songwriter Devon Welsh and Matt Otto. The group disbanded in March 2016. History Welsh, the son of actor Kenneth Welsh and Corinne Farago,Matador Records Matador Records is an independent record label, with a roster of mainly indie rock, but also punk rock, experimental rock, alternative rock, and electronic acts. History Matador was created in 1989 by Chris Lombardi in his New York City apart ...

. In an interview with ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'', Welsh explained, "I like making music, and I like putting it out there and having people listen to it. The stuff in the middle was stressful to me. I wanted to do it in a way where it was me making the choices and me taking the risks, where I felt like I didn’t have to take a label's vision into account -- or the expectations of anybody else in terms of what success would be defined as."

Critical reception

Reviewing the album for ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...

'', Matt Bobkin stated that, "''Dream Songs'' pushes Welsh's songcraft forward without abandoning his strengths." Writing for ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

'', Evan Rytlewski called ''Dream Songs'' an "unflinchingly candid debut solo album" and praised its instrumentation, calling it a "backdrop of lovely, spacious music that grants Welsh's pliable voice full freedom to preen, wander, and soar."

BrooklynVegan ''BrooklynVegan'' is an American online music magazine founded in 2004 by David Levine. The company is headquartered in Brooklyn, New York, United States and originally focused on vegan food and the music community in and around New York City, ...

's Andrew Sacher deemed the album "bigger and more complex, but not so much so that it ruins the intimacy that always made Devon's music appealing" and said, "When Devon rings out his notes, you can feel the passion that's driving every single word. These songs tend to be delicate, but they aren't passive. The emotional weight in these songs is so heavy, that even the quietest moments have no trouble commanding your attention."

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from Bandcamp and Discogs. *

– songwriting, string arrangement * Thomas Beard – cello * Ben Dwyer – double bass * Christopher Honeywell – cover photograph * Kyle Jukka – guitar * Kate Maloney – violin * Austin Milne – saxophone *

Harris Newman Harris Newman is a mastering engineer working out of Grey Market Mastering in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. His studio shares a building with the Hotel2Tango recording studio, as well as Constellation Records. Newman has mastered hundreds of album ...

– mastering * Austin Tufts – production, string arrangement * Christoph Vandory – viola

References

{{Authority control 2018 debut albums Self-released albums