Niagara Moon wishes all of us some "Good Dreams"

Niagara Moon’s main pitch that’s been floating around states that it is. “Reminiscent of The Beach Boys meets Thom Yorke with a Willy Wonka lens” and… c’mon that’s way too enticing to pass up. With a description that far out you got a whole musical adventure laid out for you packaged in what’a also been described as “Whimsical Baroque folk”, which means we’re going to get some seriously warm and creative tunes out of this one. Not convinced yet? I’ll do you one better, because it turns out that Niagara Moon isn’t releasing a song or an EP, but an entire 12 song album instead, one that is based primarily around the concept of dreams. It is no surprise then, that a lot of what we hear has a very ethereal and almost surrealistic-yet-familiar atmosphere prepared to carry us through our own inner world with an oniric raft floating on  a sea of good vibrations.

Like a lot of albums lately, “Good Dreams” was brewed amidst the global pandemic and recorded under the social fallout from the lockdown. This was a very intense and uncertain period of time for most of us, but musicians of talent and stature have the good fortune of being able (if not bound) to channel that into their creative impulse and make something beautiful and meaningful out of it that the rest of us can enjoy and relate to. 

The themes of this album came from a period of time during the aforementioned situation in which Thomas Erwin (The mastermind behind Niagara Moon) was experiencing difficulties with his sleep cycle, but remembering an old secret sleep-aid technique that had helped him in his youth brought him back down to baseline again. 

“When you find yourself late at night worrying about nightmares, the future, or just simply have a case of Sunday Scaries, imagine in your mind’s eye - in big puffy friendly letters, much like those on the album cover - the words “Good Dreams” beaming back at you.  It helps more often than not.”

For this album, Niagara Moon set out to embrace “the electronic orchestra living inside their Mac Mini.”, and this is certainly noticeable from the very first track, “Sink or Swim”, which begins with a very soft, glimmering piano and slowly but surely starts developing this amazingly beautiful and sly crescendo until it blooms into full glory with a colorful explosion of euphoric melodies. By the second song (That’s News To Me) onward we really do feel neck deep into that pop baroqueness that we were promised.  The music right now is like whipped cream: Sweet, soft and silky smooth, and It’s all laid out so artfully that you can almost hear that electric orchestra swooning at the ministrations of Thomas’ lyrics. 

It’s not all pretty cotton clouds and honeyed melodies though. Soon things take on a gravity of their own just as soon as the third track. “Hindsight” is a bit of a haunting reminder not to take anything for granted and squeeze the good moments for all their worth because a time may come when  we’ll realize that Freedom, time and energy have left us.

Going back to the term “Baroque”, it’s a musical category that means something different today than what it meant back in what we now call the “Baroque period” of western music propper. Of course the term itself means something highly adorned and artfully labored, with these very typical flourishes that border on what’s considered corny by some. But hear me out here, because Niagara Moon is actually bringing a lot more credibility to the term with their music, especially with songs like“If you know what I mean” and its horn section, the strings in “Who Needs Who?” or the cute little harpsichord march in “Surprise For You”. All of these elements come together as a natural part of what Makes Niagara Moon what it is as a project, they feel authentic and very fresh and original, highly reminiscent of a romantic theatricality that is still quite suave.

My absolute favorite in the whole album has to be the final -and titular- track “Good Dreams”. It’s a lot like the very first song, only it bursts out of nowhere with its reassuring euphoria and message, before closing back down on a more quiet note that puts a tiny note folded neatly into your breast pocket, and before you know it, you will know forevermore that Good Dreams do come to those who wait.

MEET THE AUTHOR

Samuel Aponte is Venezuelan-born raised and based. 

I joined Rival Magazine after a few years of doing PR work for independent musicians of all stripes; understanding their struggles to be heard in a sea of constant  ADHD noise and paywalled access to platforms, I now bring a willingness to always appreciate and encourage the effort and creativity that artists put into their work . Can also find some of my writings on LADYGUNN and We Found New Music.