Freya Alley - 'My Heart's In Your Hands'
Dream-pop, Lithuanian artist (now based in London), Freya Alley, released her latest single, My Heart's In Your Hands, on March 24th and it is not something you'll want to miss.
A psychodelic-inflected dream piece, Alley depicts the sensation of falling in love, encapsulating both its complexities and excitement. Commencing with airy, mystifying vocals, the song incites the listener to get lost in the clouds as Alley brings her fairytale love to life. On what inspires the record, Alley refers to past experiences, "especially when you're very young and start falling in love with someone...at the same moment, it's a scary and unknown area...you feel very fragile, vulnerable..(but it is a) beautiful moment."
The instrumentation of the track remains consistent throughout, alluding to the a feeling of safety and satisfaction one feels when content within a relationship. At the same time, it precludes a common sense of insecurity that we all feel when we allow ourselves to be vulnerable with another person. What may not be immediately obvious to the listener, however, is the inability to put this record within a clearly defined genre. A sub-genre of alternative rock and neo-psychedelia, dream-pop typifies the immersive experience whilst listening to music. By its nature, the genre 'emphasises mood and sonics over lyrics'. Despite originating in the late 1960s, and popularised by artists such as My Bloody Valentine and Cigarettes After Sex, however, dream-pop remains on the periphery of both the rock and pop mainstream. For this reason, we hear very little of it within conventional music forums and on radio. In her own words, Alley describes her genre of music as "a mixture of ambient pop, dream-pop and electric dance," and it represents their wider catalogue of music: "I've always loved commercial pop, but I can't sing it...it doesn't work for me...it's the music I would be listening to...I've always wanted to do something unique..."
In describing her musical influences more generally, Alley puts forth a trajectory wherein her musical taste and inspiration changed throughout the years, beginning with Britney Spears as a young girl in Lithuania to venturing into different genres such as trip-hop, such as Massive Attack, and alternative pop and rock, including Lana Del Rey and the Killers. What is made clear is that Alley seeks inspiration from a variety of sources, testifying to not only the music itself, but the music-making process in which they employ.
Following the release of My Heart's In Your Hands, we should expect to see a rollout of music from Freya Alley throughout the rest of 2023, as well as exciting visual projects and live performances.
Words by Laura Maxwell
