"In the day, a place of dreams and leisure, surrounding the city with glamorous subtropical paradises. At night a place of mystery and adventure, where the city streets hold wonderful places to visit with neon lights and art throughout the area. Near the ocean shores of Miami Florida, Dream Shore thoughtfully produces nostalgic tracks with an obsession for 80s culture and music."
Welcome to Dream Shore’s new release, Resilience. These songs have the lift your workouts have been missing.
This release, full of five absorbing tracks that recall the heyday of synthesized scores, tells a story that is unique in the sythwave genre. This tale, stripped of robots and zombies and sunsets (well, maybe not), could be about anyone trying to overcome ANY obstacle.
Sure, the image on the cover is of a woman ready to kick all sorts of ass but, interwoven into that artistic set-up (courtesy of Andrew White), is a more universal story about the scars we all hide and the efforts we have made – even if we don’t have our own Asian narrator to bring us closer to our inner chi – to overcome every obstacle we face.
The opening song begins with a trickle of keys. These tones are already inviting. Resilience, to its credit, brings comfort and confidence through each and every one of its five tracks; it begins with a dreamy wash of synths and then a steady beat drops. Movement is afoot. And just like that, our “Training”, the title of track one, has begun. You can practically see the sun rising for a bright and determined magnificent sunrise along the Miami coast as the track sneaks into "Inner Strength", track two.
And from just the first few minutes of "Resilience" as tonal themes are established, we see progress being made. Want to get in shape? Pound out those abs with the exciting and introspective sounds of “Prevail” and score big time muscles. You are not alone, we are told. Put that shit on repeat, son, and sweat out your frustrations. But wait until the beat drops first. Those synth sounds are going to carry you across the finish line of "Tranquility"; this I promise.
Inspired in part by Paul Hertzog's AWESOME soundtracks for Kickboxer and Bloodsport, both starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dream Shore’s latest release is the call to action our bodies and booties needed. Never before has getting pummeled in the ring sounded so honeyed and, dare I suggest, crystalline.
Thing is, Dream Shore’s Resilience, much like the pulsing scores he’s emulating here, will get you moving toward your dream. While a dreamlike wave is established with electronic washes, there is peppering of scattershot beats that truly create the scene outlined by the neon-dusted cover. And then the guiding voice kicks in. There’s a future funk to a lot of the drama here and, with a narrative tightly clenched, his work here creates a Miami Vice-like vibe that begs to be put on repeat.
And, with three releases under his heavyweight belt, Dream Shore reigns supreme on the synthwave scene. But don’t call his latest release, Resilience, a comeback. It is a natural progression of what has been released so far from the artist. This time, though, there is a sense of determination in what he has composed and it smells a lot, after hours and hours of practice in a stuffy warehouse somewhere along the shore, like sweat.
Time to Boss Up, dudes and dudettes. Just remember, it’s full contact and there are three ways to win…
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