Song of the Day: Alice Boman – Dreams

Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part of our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJs think you should hear. Today’s song, featured on The Morning Show with John Richards, is Alice Boman's “Dreams,” a new single out now via The Control Group, available digitally and as a limited-edition, hand-numbered, hand-stamped 7″ vinyl single.

Alice Boman – Dreams (MP3)

Alice Boman is trying not to be hopeless on her new single "Dreams." Over moody, atmospheric piano and quietly insistent drums, the Swedish singer lets us know right off the bat that "when hope dies/that is what hurts the most" with a wounded, breathy vocal performance. She's rattled by loss, but when she gets around to belting the chorus like its a 21st-century torch song, she makes it clear she's shaken but not too shaken, and ready to start anew: "is there a place we can go/where dreams begin?"

"Dreams" seems to be a one-off for the singer, who launched her career out of Malmo, Sweden with her 2013 EP Skisser (which translates to "sketches" in Swedish).  "Everything is constantly changing. But some things always feels the same. Heartache is never easy," she says on her Bandcamp page about the origins of the song. "And in those moments it's important to find something to hold on to. To keep on dreaming.”

No tour dates nor album news to share, but you can follow her on Facebook to be among the first to know. And watch a video below for today's featured song, directed by Jeanne Lula Chauveau and filmed in Vårhallarna, Sweden. (Boman says, "Vårhallarna is such a special place to me. I have spent so much time there because my grandmother has a house there, and when I go there I always feel calm and inspired. It is unclear how long my grandmother will keep the house for, so I wanted Vårhallarna's magic and beauty to be the core of this video -- as a homage to the place and to all the memories.")