"Dreamstate" by Free Galaxy

Fresh out from Free Galaxy is their latest single "Dreamstate", though it is far from business as usual for this popular band. Now operating as a trio rather than a quartet, the song is being released as a valediction to the band they were (in fact they wrote it in 2018) before moving onto sharing new material which they feel better represents their new configuration.

It's interesting how this significant moment in their career has provoked a self evaluation of their work to date: it's greatly to their credit that they do carry out exercises in self awareness and criticism such as this and as a critic who often bangs on about how he is drawn to music of integrity and honesty, I am the last person to decry a band for moving on from material which they feel no longer represents who they are.

Nevertheless, Free Galaxy should remain very proud of who they were in their Mark 1 incarnation and I feel their work still stands up and will continue to do so. No doubt their significant body of fans were attracted to Free Galaxy by the songs to date  and so not only do they  represent a body of work important to their career, but also a foundation to the songs they will be creating in the future.

"Dreamstate" is a fine statement of what they have been and a summation of their sound so far. Initially one of their more acoustic offerings, it has their usual melodicism yet tinged with a melancholia and wistful reflections (literally given the lyrics) suitable to this particular moment. Another very "open" song with the various elements all very clear for us, it's a proper song in that everything serves what they are trying to say: there was a beautiful little guitar solo early on which only lasted a brief moment as presumably they felt that was only they wanted it to do. As the track builds into something a little more anguished, so does the volume and the instrumental parts (it's a very different sounding song in the third quarter) before gently settling back into a quieter coda completing the bookending of the song.

It's a fine song: I don't know, given what the band say if "Dreamstate" will feature in live sets (remember them?) in the future: I respect their decision if they feel it's no longer appropriate, but it should not be consigned too lightly to any sort of archive status. On the other hand, I am pretty intrigued as to what their new direction is going to be…..