We Speak Pop
Stream Soda Blonde’s sophomore album ‘Dream Big’ now!
“artful pop music that is both inordinately sophisticated and eminently hummable” – The Irish Post
“[Dream Big’s] lush synth and warm pop sensibilities confronting the face of our collective societal angst positions it as one of the more exciting album releases of the fall calendar” – Vanyaland
Irish indie-pop favourites Soda Blonde are delighted to share their “Dream Big” album, available now across music platforms via Overbite Records. The album was preceded by singles“Bad Machine” and “Midnight Show”.
Lead single “Bad Machine” fuses warm vocals with fuzzy synths, bringing a sense of sonic pleasure with its self-acceptance message. Indie pop and vibrant electronica combine to create a song with vigour and excitement.
The band set the tone for “Dream Big” on album opener “Midnight Show,” a stunningly cinematic power ballad weighing disillusionment with the music industry on one hand, and the unapologetic pursuit of one’s desires – to the point of prostituting yourself for success – on the other.
“Dream Big” leaves no stone unturned: “You are so damaged,” O’Rourke sings in Boys,” channelling inner pain and fracture into a visceral and textured anthem. Our physical (and mental) fragility comes to the forefront on the beautifully bittersweet “An Accident,” a tender ballad balancing tragedy with hope:
Meanwhile in “Space Baby,” Soda Blonde breathe fresh energy into a song about love, honesty, and claustrophobia, by quite literally removing the breaths themselves: O’Regan employed a chopped production technique to the track, sucking out all the air to recreate the lyrics’ stifled sensation.
In “Why Die for Danzig,” Soda Blonde revive an anti-WWII slogan, originally written by French Neo-Socialist Marcel Déat, for a song that delves not only into war, but also into how people treat refugees differently depending on where they come from.
Ultimately, “Dream Big” is for everyone. There are many tracks here that speak to different moments, feelings, or expressions of emotion, all intricately stitched together with eloquent synths, musical arrangements, and rhythms.
Tickets are on sale now for Soda Blonde’s November ‘Dream Big’ tour.
Some songs aren’t just music: they’re milestones. Electric Love, the latest single from Belgian-Rwandan artist AMERY, is more than a comeback: it’s a declaration of freedom. Out now on all platforms, the track captures the emotional release that comes with choosing yourself, even when the world has tried to define you first.
From the first glowing organ chords, Electric Love radiates a quiet strength, the kind that builds slowly, then crashes open like a long-awaited breakthrough. Produced by longtime collaborator James Lowland, it pairs raw emotion with soaring, rock-infused energy, charting AMERY’s journey from fear to self-acceptance. Vulnerable, powerful and gloriously unfiltered, Electric Love feels like a soul set free.
What makes the song hit even harder is the context behind it. Written during one of the darkest chapters of AMERY’s life, it tells the story of a young man watching the foundation beneath him dissolve — his family drifting apart, his sense of identity unraveling, his safety net vanishing. And yet, rather than sink, he wrote. “I felt this deep void, he says. I started to look for comfort and distraction in other places and people, but I realized I was constantly running away from the truth, and straight into depression and toxic relationships. I had to let go of everything that was holding back my personal growth and find my light again. I wrote this while I was at my lowest, dreaming of the day I’d finally break free. It carried me forward.
While many know AMERY for the sleek pop anthems that even caught the ear of Sir Elton John, Electric Love marks a turn inward. It’s genre-bending, yes, but more importantly, it’s label-rejecting — in every sense. He invites us not just listen, but to feel. And as he embraces his queerness, autism and introversion without apology, AMERY proves that art is at its most powerful when it’s simply, unapologetically true.
AMERY is back, but more importantly, he’s finally home in himself.
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