Album Review: Saint Raymond - 'We Forgot We Were Dreaming'
Saint Raymond is back with his sophomore album ‘We Forgot We Were Dreaming’.
Its been five years since Saint Raymond, AKA Callum Burrows knocked us out with his debut top 10 album ‘Young Blood’ but since then we’ve been treated to two EP’s and lots of live performances.
The new album opens with the title track ‘We Forgot We Were Dreaming’ which draws us in with haunting vocals and ambient textures. This is quickly kicked up a notch with the entry of drum grooves and popping synths that are classic of the Saint Raymond sound, but with a new found level of maturity. The track cleverly takes us on twists and turns, with big drops and builds in texture giving us a taste of what is to come from the album.
Were thrown straight into an optimistic feeling second track ‘Right Way Round’, with janky guitars and gang vocals written to be sung along to loud and proud in a festival field.
The Nottingham based artist has been working on ‘We Forget We Were Dreaming' for 2 years which was recorded in Bath with producer Joe Page. On the context of the album Saint Raymond says “The album is generally about relationships - whether that be friendships or love interests. It encompasses things I have picked up from around me seeing people falling in and out of love,” ..“It’s also about the relationship we all have with ourselves and in our own minds. There are a few songs on ’We Forgot We Were Dreaming’ that are about mental health and my relationship with that.”
We’ve already been teased a few singles in the buildup to release day, including ‘Solid Gold’, ‘Alright’, and most recently ‘Soft Landing’, a slow building song about heartbreak with a huge explosive ending. The track is set alongside a video of Saint Raymond singing in the back of a pickup truck on a country road. The video ends with him getting out and being left at the side of the road, as the truck drives off, the camera slowly pans to show a girl was sat beside him the whole time who is crying as she drives off leaving him behind.
Saint Raymond says the first single ‘Solid Gold’ is about “trying to rekindle the spark and make things work because you know that there is something special in the relationship and it’s worth fighting for. It’s about knowing that all of the good things override the negatives."
Having already received lots of attention from the likes of Huw Stephens on Radio One and other singles being featured on Spotify New Music Friday, ‘We Forgot We Were Dreaming’ is bound to be our soundtrack for the summer.
Words by Tamara Grzegorzek