Pleasure Beach – Dreamer to a Dawn

The Last Mixed Tape reviews Dreamer to a Dawn, the brand new E.P. from Belfast-based alternative-pop band Pleasure Beach. 

Dreamer to a Dawn is light on its feet but packs a punch. A stunning realization of Pleasure Beach’s synth and alternative pop inflected sound the record is truly wondrous to behold.

Although brief, Dreamer to a Dawn is not short on scope. The production of the E.P. sizzles with self-confidence, as the five-piece constantly build each track up with interlocking harmonies, rhythms and melodies, all of which deftly woven into the overall sound of the E.P. with the ecstatic crescendo of ‘Go’ pulling back to a subtle vocal ending being the perfect encapsulation of this.

Part Arcade Fire, part War on Drugs, Pleasure Beach’s sound is as grandiose and enthralling as their influences, and more importantly able to define itself apart from them. This is no more effectively seen than in the record’s centrepiece, also titled ‘Dreamer to a Dawn’.

From the shouts of unbridled joy that accompany the song’s opening moments, ‘Dreamer to a Dawn’ is the sound of a band “in the pocket”. All the stars align and give way to a song so perfectly matching the group’s ambition that it’s hard to see how it could be bettered. And as the elegant repose of ‘Hayley’ follows, Pleasure Beach bring the record to a deservedly gentle close.

Music is something to be experienced, even when reviewing. We may lie to ourselves from time to time about what we do or don’t like but our emotions don’t. Dreamer to a Dawn hits you in an emotive way. There’s hope, there’s wonder, there’s want, there’s regret. All of which is communication in the best possible way, pop music. However brief Dreamer to the Dawn is, the impression it leaves isn’t.

Rating: 10/10

Dreamer to a Dawn by Pleasure Beach is out now.