Holly Arrowsmith Shares Americana Opus Blue Dreams And Announces Aotearoa And Australia Tour

Holly Arrowsmith releases Americana opus Blue Dreams, a ten-track triumph that showcases Holly's ascent into songwriting mastery. Blue Dreams includes the award-winning "Desert Dove", and charting singles "Neon Bright" and "Blue Dreams"; in a buoyant departure from more weighty themes, “Swan Dive” is the album-capping focus track and an uplifting way to seal the record. 

Blue Dreams is available on vinyl and CD at all good record stores and globally via all streaming platforms on Friday 26 July 2024.

Recorded and produced over a three-year span, Blue Dreams was mostly written before and during the early stages of the pandemic, evolving into a sublime rotation around birth and death, faith and doubt, and hoping for better from life from a self-professed ‘disillusioned dreamer’. Holly began recording at seven months pregnant, initially worried that her changing physiology might affect her ability to sing; however, she discovered a rich lower register in her voice, effectively expanding her vocal range. Throughout the creation of these deeply personal songs which explore themes of depression, anxiety, new parenthood and losing loved ones and ideals. Holly courageously pulls back the curtain, holding to her conviction that the personal is the universal or as Joni Mitchell said ‘People deserve to know how other people feel.’ 

Blue Dreams was conceptualised as an album of two halves. The first half is energised and driven, a departure from Holly's previous work. Tapping into a well of emotions that had been exposed through the pandemic and pregnancy, the tracks are permeated with a sense of drama and intensity.  Holly is an ardent reader of poetry, which often moves her to write: ‘‘Could’ve Been a River" was inspired by Wendell Berry’s poem ‘Canticle’, while Holly directly cites Mary Oliver ("Could’ve Been a River") and New Zealand’s own Janet Frame ("Swan Dive".)

Holly's keen sense of humour shines in "Womb of Venus", in which she is lost in contemplation of what it might feel like to be in utero, then looks out the window to see that not only is the washing still out on the line, it’s now frozen. Holly questions being a musician in "Red Lit Room", detailing a disappointing show and the comedy of errors that unfold ‘’But come on, what did you expect? We’re all earnest and unrewarded!’ Confessing that you’ve got to be a little deluded to keep ‘singing your sad songs.’ Producer Tom Healy and Holly used references like Mazzy Star for the loose, layered nylon guitar strings and glittering chimes in ‘Something Small’, and the rich vocals of Weyes Blood and The Weather Station.

Side two strips things back, with the strong alt-country lean throughout the record taking on a more traditional tone. Neil Young, Bob Dylan and Van Morrison filled the studio during the creative process, nods to their talent just noticeable throughout. Track "Blue Dreams" showcases 1970s California folk twang, where the stripped-back "Mountain Lion" tells a tender story in which Holly visits an elderly loved one for the last time. "Night Flight" shares Holly's dream about being a bird, flying down the Avon River at dusk, the mood enhanced with Anita Clark’s gorgeous string arrangements in accompaniment. The record finishes on an uplifting note with "Swan Dive", a Vashti Bunyan-inspired track where Holly implores a loved one to hold onto hope in life, reminding them (and herself) that ‘Just when you think that you’ll never laugh again’ you’ll swan dive into life’s delight and beauty once more.

Holly's innate and honed songwriting talents were celebrated in May, the second time she has taken home the coveted APRA Country Music Song of the Year; on this occasion, Holly's song 'Desert Dove', also on Blue Dreams, nabbed the award.

Blue Dreams is produced by Tom Healy (Marlon Williams, Bic Runga), and accompanied by an all-star cast of New Zealand musicians (Cass Basil, Anita Clark, Alex Freer, Tom Healy).

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