Dream Cities‘ debut album doesn’t sound like a bunch of mates who just put out their first album.
Each song on Everybody’s Nobody is well-structured, with razor-sharp raps and a high standard of musicianship across all band members. These guys sound like seasoned musicians who have been in the game for several albums already.
Dream Cities’ debut album Everybody’s Nobody showcases a band way ahead of their game, lyrically and musically, with tightly-structured songs, advanced musicianship and sharp raps.
Dream Cities is a collaborative fronted by Ell C, and backed by guitarist Andrej Trbojevic, bassist Alex Solo and drummer Mike Solo.
The group started back in 2014 as an instrumental group made up of the Solo brothers. A chance meeting with Ello and Alex in 2016 eventually led to the group becoming a full-fledged band.
The Fake & The Foolery opens the album with a rollicking piano line that eventually gets consumed in layers of drums and guitar. C’s rhymes urge us to find our own voice and use it, to stand up and be an individual and realise that no one is holding us down – we are completely free.
A powerful, searing blues voice opens End Time Blues, before C’s raps hit you in the face about making the most of your life and doing things “like you mean it.”
Honey In The Veins is a slowed down exploration into what its like to struggle with addiction and dependency. The euphoria of C’s raps in the chorus are complemented by angelic, psychedelic keyboards and samples that completely overcome you.
The euphoria eventually wears off and we are swept up in rhymes about accepting yourself, finding yourself and finding your way through tough times in Angel’s Call. A myriad of sounds and samples drift seamlessly in and around C’s raps.
Destroy Your Ego is the kind of song that you can just picture an audience moshing like mad to from the first bar in. As listeners, before we know it, we’re being bombarded with C telling us ego is destructive and that we shouldn’t let it take over our reality.
Everybody’s Nobody is another punchy, fast-paced song and one which betrays the band’s love for foreign music right from the start with that vocal sample. Its heavier, borrowing its style from prog and metal as C relishes in his performance.
Eagle’s View is another slowed down number about being the sort of friend we all need – the sort of person who tells us we need to wake up and move on, but who will be there for us when we can’t, before the harrowing, video game-sounding Personality Disorder closes off the album.
In all, Everybody’s Nobody is an impressive debut that showcases the strength of the musicians and conveys a band that is ahead of its time, sonically and lyrically.
Listen to the album above.
