Austin’s American Dreamer are not your typical folk collective. With emotive storytelling, vocal harmonies, and roots-centric instrumental performance at their center, the quartet uses the staples of the genre. However, the way they approach it comes from an orchestral plane, ushering in ebullient processions of vibrant, melodious sound that sets their compositions apart from the crowd. On Go Where You Go, tonal shifts between gaiety, eloquence, languor, and fervor occur throughout the ebb and flow, existing as naturally through its variety of stylistic influences as the woods represented on the LP’s cover art.
The rich warmth with which American Dreamer ensnares its listeners with is the brainchild of Sasha Klare-Ayvazian, who moved to Austin following a college stint. On forming the band, Ayvazian says, “I found myself befriending string players. My fiancée is our cellist. I just kept meeting string players. At a certain point, it was kinda a lightbulb moment. I have a background in composition, so arranging parts came naturally.”
Although the development process of their newest album was a harrowing process, to say the least, American Dreamer found a savior in Ghost Hit Recording’s Andrew Oedel. Oedel salvaged previously unsatisfactory mixes, piecing them together to complete the puzzle that is the band’s lively and amiable new full-length. Although its production may not have been the most simplistic of processes, the payoff has been a grandiose new effort from the quartet.
Klare-Ayvazian continues, “I tried to fill this record with hope, joy, beauty, and solace. I hope people listen driving in their car on a Sunday afternoon and smile and sing-a-long. I hope they ignore the lyrics, close their eyes, and get lost in the strings. And I hope people listen to every word and follow the stories in the songs.”
Go Where You Go releases on 16 November.