1960s–1970s: origins Author Nathan Wiseman-Trowse writes that the "approach to the sheer physicality of sound" integral to dream pop was "arguably pioneered in popular music by figures such as
Phil Spector and (
Beach Boys founder)
Brian Wilson." Critic Jim Allen, who cites the Beach Boys as the style's "godfathers", says the song's unprecedented "cinematic dream sequence" production style marks the point "where the dream pop family tree starts to come into focus." The Beach Boys' impact on the genre was not widely acknowledged until the 2000s.
The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967) incorporates what music critic Marc Beamount terms "
psychedelic dream pop" in addition to various other styles. Elements of dream pop are also found in Velvet Underground songs such as "
Candy Says" (1969). Music journalist John Bergstrom recognises
George Harrison's 1970 track "
Let It Down" as a progenitor of the genre, and has said its Spector-produced parent album
All Things Must Pass influenced "many guitar-driven, echo-drenched bands [that] have come around since, mixing powerful rave-ups with moody, reflective down-tempo numbers and a spiritual bent".
Early 1980s: emergence and development , 1985 A.J. Ramirez of
PopMatters recognises an evolutionary line from
gothic rock to dream pop. The early 1980s gothic-derived "
ethereal wave" subgenre, with its
effects-laden guitar sounds and female vocals, led to the dream pop and shoegaze scenes; it was represented by
Cocteau Twins and labels such as
4AD and
Projekt Records.
Rolling Stone describes "modern dream pop" as originating with the early 1980s work of Cocteau Twins and their contemporaries. According to
Paste, the band crystallized their "swelling, euphoric" dream pop sound on the 1984 album
Treasure, with guitarist
Robin Guthrie conjuring an array of "woozy textures from his arsenal of effects pedals." The 1984 album ''
It'll End in Tears'' by 4AD's "dream-pop supergroup"
This Mortal Coil The album's 1983 lead single, the
Tim Buckley cover "
Song to the Siren", was an influential work in the genre, and saw success in the
UK Indie Chart, remaining there consistently for two years. The Dif Juz album
Extractions (1985) expanded the dream pop sound, incorporating saxophone, shifting tonalities, and off-kilter rhythms. Film director
David Lynch, unable to obtain the rights to This Mortal Coil's version of "Song to the Siren" for his 1986 film
Blue Velvet, enlisted composer
Angelo Badalamenti and singer
Julee Cruise to record a replacement track. The result was "Mysteries of Love", described by
Rolling Stone as a significant development of the dream pop sound that "gave the genre its synthy sheen". Cruise's, Lynch's and Badalamenti's 1989 album
Floating into the Night further elaborated on the style and featured the
Twin Peaks theme and UK top 10 single "
Falling". Their sound blended effects-laden guitar with
dub production and
drum machine backing, among other elements.
Pitchfork called A.R. Kane's 1988 debut album
Sixty Nine a "crucial document" of the dream pop movement, writing that the group "aimed to emulate an ethereality that could just as easily become nightmarish". The band described their sound as "dreampop", a label critic
Simon Reynolds subsequently adopted to describe that group and later extended to the nascent
shoegazing scene in the UK. AllMusic says "dream pop" includes both the "loud, shimmering feedback" of
My Bloody Valentine and the "post-Velvet Underground guitar rock" of
Galaxie 500. My Bloody Valentine showcased a unique dream pop sound on their 1988 debut album ''
Isn't Anything, with guitarist Kevin Shields employing a tremolo-arm technique to produce "an amorphous drone, at once visceral and disembodied". Other prominent acts to emerge from the movement include Slowdive and Chapterhouse. The UK band Lush became an influential act in the genre during the 1990s, with Robin Guthrie producing their 1992 debut album Spooky''.
Crossover with other genres Archetypal
slowcore band
Low have been considered by some to have a certain level of crossover with dream pop.
Pitchfork describe their 1994 debut album
I Could Live in Hope as such, but
Drowned in Sound said it never sounds "too removed or pretty that it could be called dream pop."
The Sundays, sometimes called an
indie pop or
alternative rock band, released their debut album
Reading, Writing and Arithmetic in 1990. It has been called one of the best dream pop albums by both
Pitchfork and
Paste. who began incorporating elements such as
samples and
sequenced rhythms.
Ambient pop music is described by AllMusic as "essentially an extension of the dream pop that emerged in the wake of the shoegazer movement", distinct for its incorporation of electronic textures and techniques such as
sampling.
21st century The 2007 album
Person Pitch by
Panda Bear combined Beach Boys-influenced dream pop with modern
sampledelic techniques, winning acclaim and exerting wide influence. Much of the music associated with the 2009-coined term "
chillwave" can be considered dream pop. Baltimore duo
Beach House's 2010 album
Teen Dream established the group as purveyors of modern dream pop that drew on the "languid reveries" of Cocteau Twins, Mazzy Star and Galaxie 500. ==See also==