Living in a Dream – Alex Tranter (reviewed by Dave Franklin)

You often see music like this tagged as easy-listening, which it is in the most objective meaning of the phrase, but this oft-maligned term carries a lot of baggage. Many will see such a label and assume that the music is somehow background in nature, unobtrusive, compromised and unadventurous, as if it were the sort of thing designed to be listened to in the lifts in Debenhams department stores. (Do we still have Debenhams?)

I read the phrase easy-listening and think of words like infectiousness, accessibility, contagion, of music that meets you more than halfway, that draws you effortlessly in, music that you can’t help but like and react to. And that is certainly the case with ‘Living in a Dream,’ the new one from Alex Tranter.

Here, he corrals groovesome and driving funk bass lines, liquid early synth sonics, shuffling beats, and slick guitars into a slightly seventies-infused soul, perhaps even disco sound. Guitars shimmer in the background, and the vocals feel embedded in the track, as much an instrument in their own right as a device for communication. The song is joyous and full of life, as vibrant and rewarding as the title suggests, and I can only imagine that if this were used as the lift music in Debenhams (which doesn’t exist anymore; I checked), you would have created the most bijou and exclusive, fun, sassy and exciting dancefloor in town! (Note to self: more discos to be held in department store elevators!)

So, not only does ‘Living in a Dream’ reclaim that much-misunderstood phrase and give it new purpose, Tranter has given us a sonic call to arms for the future of disco, dancefloors, and the denizens of the nighttime world.

When those seventies rock elitists started a movement to eradicate disco in favor of ten-minute guitar solos, double-denim, and lyrics about taking rings to Mordor, they saw music like this as a threat. Slow hand clap, eye roll, and sarcastic voice… well done, everyone… morons!

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