Dream rock four piece junodream have released their eagerly awaited debut album Pools of Colour – a magnificent, deeply immersive record, offering an otherworldly escape. Out now via AWAL Recordings, Pools of Colour features previously released singles ‘The Oranges’, ‘Kitchen Sink Drama’, ‘Death Drive’ and ‘The Beach’, plus six brand new tracks. In our modern existence where individualism at all costs is encouraged, the power of the community and the whole is often lost – with their debut full length, junodream invite you to enter their universe with total submission, seeking that beautiful escape that’s become so hard to find.
Speaking about this milestone moment, the band comments “We’ve wanted to release an album for as long as we can remember. Now we’re here, it doesn’t feel real at all. We’re all still dreaming. Anyway, we hope people just jump, eyes-closed into the weird world we’ve created for this record and come out the other side feeling a bit different. A bit spaced out and a bit uplifted. ‘Pools of Colour’ really is just the beginning for us, there’s so much more to come and so much further to go for junodream. Thank you for taking the time to listen to what we have to say.”
Musically, junodream channels the enveloping sounds of Air with the psychedelic, woozy corners of Spiritualized and prog-rock greats of the past. There are ambient, hypnotic elements reminiscent of Slowdive amidst dancier moments on the record, whilst some songs have a rockier edge. But it’s not just about the music; the band wants their fans to enjoy the abstract beauty of their cover art and their conceptual live shows, creating a world that can be enjoyed deeply and wholly by the listener.
In line with their total control over their entire creative output, the album was produced by guitarists Tom Rea and Dougal Gray, with its striking cover art conceptualised by Gray. Working between their home studio – dubbed Shabby Road – and the west London studio of co-producer Simon Byrt, they spent the best part of a year carving out an album of stark beauty and prescient themes.
Lined 10 tracks deep, Pools of Colour is about coming to terms with insignificance. It asks important questions, delving into the more insidious and disconnected parts of modernity and the human condition, presenting a band more interested in a cohesive, egoless whole than the perspective of four separate members. Sharing a profound connection that’s the result of being best friends for a decade, alongside a DIY formula that’s at the heart of everything they do, junodream have already built a captivating world within their tight community of fans and collaborators. In the six years since their inception, they’ve amassed over 24 million collective streams on DSPs, forging blistering and immersive live performances including a rapturous set at last year’s The Great Escape Festival in Brighton.
junodream’s headline tour takes place early next year, making stops in Dublin, Glasgow, Nottingham, Manchester, Brighton, London and more throughout February 2024 – see full date listings below. Tickets are on sale now here.
