Don’t Dare To Dream by Teenage Fanclub

Teenage Fanclub
Do Not Dare To Dream
Merge

For 37 years, Teenage Fanclub has made incredible indie pop music that transcends time. And for those 37 years, I feel like I have walked right alongside them. From the sheer brilliance of Bandwagonesque to Thirteen and the album that is beloved by fans, Norman Blake and Raymond McGinley have given us the gifts of their talent over and over again.

And for them, life is pretty good right now. As they release their thirteenth album, they are in a happy place. “I’m in a better place now in terms of happiness and wellbeing,” said Blake, “and my songs on this album are really just a reflection of that. I’ve found that the easiest thing to write about is yourself. It can be quite cathartic. It’s sort of like doing your own therapy.”

With time comes age, and with age comes experience. As effortless as all of this feels, you sense the albums universal pop appeal that stretches somewhere between Laurel Canyon and the shores of the British Isles (I feel subtle nods to Al Stewarts’s Scottish demeanor with the aura of this album), there is a calm demeanor to a dense philosophical contemplative approach that stems from a surrounding volatile planet. But deep inside, Blake and McGinley use their talents to overcome and build music that harks degrees of hope.

“Tomorrow People” uses their resources in the studio to build this weird and wonderful sci-fi feeling pop song that becomes dimensional in a way that spirals into the ethereal Simon and Garfunkel-esque “Over and Over.” By the time the song blossoms, all I could do was sit back and take it all in.

From the brightness of “Day in the Sun” to the floatiness of “The Same Air” this is exactly where I want Teenage Fanclub to be at. It’s feeling like I can reclaim my youth while enjoying each song for the simple experience of maturity. I may be in love.