Ali George – Dreams Within Dreams (2023)
Compared to the likes of Cat Stevens, Nick Drake and John Martyn, singer-songwriter Ali George has established himself as a prominent UK-based indie-folk artist. At the age of six, George was playing the guitar and by age ten he was in his first band, Mental Lightning. Skip ahead several years and we see him supporting folk acts like Steve Nilson, performing at Glastonbury and The Village Pump music festivals, and featuring on radio stations such as BBC Music Introducing. Along with these appearances and coverage, Ali George has been featured in notable publications such as Sinusoidal Music, Send Me Your Ears, Less Than 1000 Followers, Find No Enemy, and many more. The latest addition to his discography is the single ‘Dreams Within Dreams’.
Following his single ‘Hard To Find’, Ali George moves from his signature folk style incorporating a more ambient, dreamy tone in ‘Dreams Within Dreams’. Keeping to his mellifluous melody, a simplistic arrangement of drums, percussion and synths meld with George’s renowned finger-picking guitar. Soft, soothing and laidback, there is an elegant charm to the track; however, Ali George’s profoundness breaks through the stark melody in a kaleidoscope of colours. Easy-going but haunting, charming but slightly uncomfortable, and tender but cold, ‘Dreams Within Dreams’ is a complex song.
Taken from his upcoming album, Watchful Days, ‘Dreams Within Dreams’ was recorded near Bath, UK, with producer and musician Josh Clark. Fun note: Clark not only produced Watchful Days but contributed the drum, percussion and synth parts to ‘Dreams Within Dreams’.
One of the more intriguing aspects of Ali George is that his bare-bones melodies are packed with thought-provoking tales. As if you were a child listening to a captivating story, ‘Dreams Within Dreams’ takes your breath away as you hang onto every word. Touching on the themes of loneliness, despair, unrequited love, feminism, toxic relationships and grief, ‘Dreams Within Dreams’ is about a woman who feels neglected by her husband.
“I wrote this song from the perspective of a lonely woman who feels that her husband has neglected her over the years. She…feels shut off from the world, condemned to cook and clean without any appreciation… The character of the husband is not intentionally neglectful. He is a dreamer who has perhaps suffered from some sort of PTSD… In the end, the wife is utterly alone and isolated, desperate for the love that herself and her husband once shared.” – Ali George on ‘Dreams Within Dreams’
For more from Ali George, check out his official website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Spotify.
This artist was discovered via Musosoup #sustainablecurator
