My Favourite Dreams

Lunacy had an excellent offering in their debut LP, showing a distinctive sound derived in parts from black metal and post-punk. Almost three years later, they're back with My Favorite Dreams, a much sweeter and more melodic iteration of their sound. In fact, it's a little too sweet for my taste, but the duo can still write a good song when they don't overemphasize Morena's singing. The turn towards a brighter sonic palette starts right away with Paints and Pictures, which at first is more reminiscent of Alcest than of the band's previous work. Stone's ringing guitars are as good as ever, though, and by the middle of the song he's switched to a darker shading than the major-key tune sung by Morena, with his black metal croaks taking over. Morena's vocals are good in small doses, but there's a sharp, thin quality to them that makes her difficult to listen to when her singing takes over a track, and that's exactly what we get in several of the tracks; nor is there as strong a melody as I'm used to hearing out of Lunacy on those. In the Light is substantially better. The mixing job is smoother and and we get to hear more of Stone's riffing, with the vocals providing the counterpoint they were used for in the previous album. Lunacy is still able to mix the pretty with the unconventional. The driving Prophecy has a harder edge to it than the others, and I wish there were more tracks like it on the album. Reflection comes close, featuring mid-tempo post-black tremolo picking, though it slightly overstays its welcome and occasionally seems to dissolve into uncertain noodling, almost as if Stone jammed on this track without getting an idea of where he wanted to go with it. Overall, My Favourite Dreams comes in second to Act One. Youth Manifesto, but is a decent overall listen with occasional flashes of brilliance.