Peel Dream Magazine – Rose Main Reading Room | Album Review
/
Topshelf Records
NYC’s Peel Dream Magazine dives into a personal exploration of their mind and surroundings with their fourth studio album, Rose Main Reading Room. This record invites listeners into a world where the ordinary becomes extraordinary, effortlessly merging themes of wistful reminiscence with an exploration of mundane hidden beauty. These themes all collide within the backdrop of various locales in New York City, which evoked specific memories both there and back home where I attempted to find the corresponding LA parallels of these feelings.
Opening track, “Dawn,” starts off as a hypnotic morning ritual. The lyrics repeat, “Comb your hair, comb your hair, wash your face / Find your keys, find your keys, grab your coat,” but change tempo throughout until it reaches a crescendo that transports you from a cozy indoor space into the woodsy “Central Park West.” This seamless flow from track to track is present throughout the album and helps envelop the listener in the world that the band is building. Many of the melodies used in these tracks felt eerily familiar, almost as if they were taken straight from mid-2000s loading screens or commercial jingles, several of which managed to wriggle their way into my brain even after the first listen.
The one track that stood out and kept coming back to take up the radio waves in my brain was “Oblast,” a track that is self-described as “cheekily prodding at mutually assured destruction.” With a chorus that rings a lover's hope and promise, “You could live for me, I could live for you, we could live for we,” is practically guaranteed to remain stuck in your head hours after you first hear it. That track bounces from a deep, bassy punch to a melodic chorus that makes the words sound angelic in the middle of it all. On a similar note, the track “I Wasn’t Made for War” feels like a direct follow-up to “Oblast,” tackling ideas of everyone around wanting more glory, whether it be wealth or power, all the while the protagonist of this song just feels lucky to have their partner. Despite how doom-and-gloom that may sound, the track feels bright and cheery, giving me a vibe similar to the more upbeat songs on Postal Service’s Give Up.
In the realm of comparisons, I also felt a lot of inspiration on certain tracks, such as those where vocalist Olivia Babuka Black sounds similar to other artists like Slow Pulp, Pearl & The Oysters, and Healing Gems, to name a few. This rings especially true on “Wish You Well,” which felt like it could have been plucked from a Slow Pulp record just listening to the vocals alone. Using the same soft and contemplative voice, Babuka Black also excels in the track “Lie In the Gutter,” which I found to be my favorite of the album. With a mix of sprechgesang and an accompaniment of cosmic loungey drone sound, the track tackles the theme of a relationship where – though things may be difficult in their respective lives – inside the walls of their shared space, they feel as safe as can be. The last line really rings true and captures the simple yet powerful songwriting the group possesses as they sing, “Lie in the Gutter, stare at the stars / Millions of light years, all of them ours / A fountain of wisdom, a kink in the system / Essential to all our belief / Lie in the gutter, and stare up there with me,” and that just captures such a strong feeling of finding hope when all else is hopeless.
The more I listen to this album, the more I find comparisons that I want to keep making and find different moments of inspiration the group may have had while producing this record. Going from a folkish Yo La Tengo vibe in some tracks to a Beach House-esque tone in others, the record is given a chance to shine on all these different fronts at different intervals. The dreaminess was extremely present in their instrumental tracks like “Gems and Minerals” and “Migratory Patterns,” though I sometimes felt like the lullaby-esque qualities of those songs may steer some folks away at first listen. Even the lyrical content keeps jumping out at you, with the album title referencing the room in the New York Public Library, which is extremely fitting to the nature of this album.
Ultimately, Rose Main Reading Room serves as a compelling snapshot of Peel Dream Magazine’s artistic journey, skillfully capturing the tension between familiarity and innovation. The album’s charm lies in its ability to evoke a sense of familiarity and comfort while also experimenting with a soundscape that mixes a blend of electronic and acoustic elements. From the very first notes of “Dawn,” the album swept me away, creating a captivating realm where time seems to stand still, and reality gently fades into the background to the gentle lullaby of “Counting Sheep” that serves as the perfect way to close the album out. The album itself sets you down and guides you through a walk in the park, a subway ride, to lunch, and everywhere in between. I felt really captivated by the grounding name drops of real locations sprinkled throughout, which gave me a sense of connection to the piece.
As Peel Dream Magazine navigates their sonic landscape, they provide listeners with a well-crafted, reflective experience that shines particularly well in its more introspective moments. While it might not push the boundaries of the genre, it’s a rewarding listen for those who cherish a thoughtfully constructed and immersive musical experience. Reading into each track a little more, I find that under the lush soundscapes, there’s so much to be pieced together as you uncover where certain concepts lay. There are lofty ideas to be had here from stagnation and questions about life or death to just the trouble of getting out of bed. Despite the bleak and foreboding atmosphere some of these topics carry, the band holds up love as a solution, showing how good it can feel to have someone there to catch you from a spiral and keep you grounded. As the album closes, the words “Don’t worry” end each line, which feels like an apt message to leave the listener with: that everything is and will be okay.
Based in LA, I’m a full-time music-head immersed in the vibrant world of psychedelic music and anything else that falls into my headphones that week. When I’m not listening to music, you’ll find me watching random movies or talking about baseball or Arsenal Football Club. To see whatever my current music obsession is or hear any of my sports takes, follow me on Twitter or Instagram.
