Opis
Norman Blake and Raymond McGinley have been making music together in Teenage Fanclub for 37 years, and while some aspects of life in a band have become easier over time, even the simplest things can still trip them up. Blake explains: “It’s difficult when it comes to thinking up a name for an album. Especially when you’ve already made 12 of them.”
The title Do Not Dare To Dream is derived from Blake’s “I Do Not Dare To Dream,” a stirring, anthemic song driven by resonant acoustic guitars and ending with a duel between electric guitars that intertwine like a reassuring embrace. Blake explains that the title is intended to poke fun at those memes that tell people to dream, something he finds rather ridiculous. “I don’t think that’s how the world works.”
Teenage Fanclub’s 13th album is full of songs that are calm and resolute, taking stock of the tense state of the world without giving in to despair. Blake’s warm, organ-backed mid-tempo ballad “Day In The Sun” and Raymond McGinley’s “Over And Over” both suggest that anyone can find a new sense of purpose in life by opening their heart. “We can still be cheerful and optimistic even when things aren’t looking particularly rosy,” says McGinley.
On Do Not Dare To Dream, Blake and McGinley are joined by their bandmates Euros Childs (keyboards and vocals), Francis Macdonald (drums) and David McGowan (bass). This quintet has now been playing together for so long that neither of Teenage Fanclub’s principal songwriters and guitarists feels the need to overthink their songs or work out arrangements before entering the studio. Instead, they prefer to wait and see what the other band members bring to them.
The album was recorded at Black Bay Studio in the village of Kirkibost on the Scottish island of Great Bernera in the Outer Hebrides. As longtime fans will probably know, Teenage Fanclub record each album in a different location so that the unique atmosphere of the place can influence the music. Great Bernera was their most remote recording location to date, helping the band focus on the work while also leaving them with a sense of awe as they were surrounded by the roaring sea and ancient ruins.
The result is a collection of songs imbued with the perspective of musicians who have been doing this for quite some time, recorded in a place that has existed for far longer still. As Blake puts it: “I think you just move from one thing to the next, and before you know it, 30 years have gone by.”
McGinley adds: “Yes, it’s been quite a while since we started doing what we do, but to us it feels as though no time has passed at all. People were singing in the place where we recorded the album thousands of years ago. Life is short, but music is eternal.”
