Dream State announce their hugely anticipated debut album ‘Primrose Path’; Release new video for “Open Windows”

In a world where most people claim to be genuine but all too rarely actually are, DREAM STATE feel different. Named after a person in pursuit of pleasure despite disastrous results, the bands hugely anticipated debut album Primrose Path is a real statement of intent, and is set to be released on October 18th through UNFD (Frank Iero, Stray From The Path, Northlane). It is preceded by the band’s latest single ‘Open Windows’, out today with a video that you can watch here. 

Recorded at Silk Mill Studios in Stoke-On-Trent, Primrose Path is the follow up to the bands debut ‘Recovery’ EP (20 million streams and counting) back in 2018, the same year the band received the Kerrang! Magazine ‘Best British Newcomer‘ award. Produced by Dan Weller (Enter Shikari) the singles ‘Hand In Hand‘ and ‘Primrose‘ have already been released.

The band will be on tour in Europe supporting Being As An Ocean in November – check out the dates below.

DREAM STATE – EUROPEAN TOUR SUPPORTING BAAO
November 10th @ Kantine (Cologne, DE)
November 11th @ Salzhaus (Winterthur, CH)
November 12th @ Backstage (Munich, DE)
November 13th @ Z-Bau (Nurnberg, DE)
November 14th @ Grelle Forelle (Wien, AT)
November 16th @ Instant (Budapest, HU)
November 17th @ Lido (Berlin, DE)
November 18th @ Conne Island (Leipzig, DE)
November 19th @ Knust (Hamburg, DE)
November 20th @ Fangelset (Gothenburg, SE)
November 21st @ Spinnrocken Sodertalje (Stockholm, SE)
November 22nd @ Beta (Copenhagen, DK)
November 24th @ Sputnikhalle (Munster, DE)
November 26th @ Substage (Karlsruhe, DE)
November 28th @ Sala La Nau (Barcelona, ES)
November 29th @ Sala Fever (Bilbao, ES)
November 30th @ Timeout Studio (Lisboa, PT)
December 1st @ Sala Independence (Madrid, ES)

“I like to be real. I want people to feel connected. This is why music is not just a band for me or the boys, it’s a way of inspiring. I know how hard life can be. That’s my thing… being real, open and honest, There’s so much power in that. I can’t be fake, that’s just not in me. I can’t put on a façade.”

says CJ Gilpin, DREAM STATE vocalist

There’s no weird, pre-prepared spiel she spouts each night onstage, there isn’t theme or grand, minutely managed concept that floats across their music. Anything premeditated like that wouldn’t be them, and it wouldn’t feel right.

“I like to be real. I want people to feel connected. This is why music is not just a band for me or the boys, it’s a way of inspiring. I know how hard life can be,” 

says the vocalist.

The albums lyrical content spans commentary on social media, alcohol, drugs and much more aside from that, but also, 

“There’s a lot of goodness in there, a lot of fight. I want to wake things up and speak to people who can’t and make something of my life,”

 says CJ.

Lyrically, the album finds her opening up more clearly, openly and above all helpfully than ever about her addictive personality and struggles with alcohol and drugs. Partially to work through the emotions her subconscious regurgitated onto the page, but also in no small part to give people who’ve lost hope something to rally around. 

“This band is not just a band. It’s something else to help others express in new ways. It’s music to help people.”

Musically, the band focused on honing their chaos, working in electronics and more ethereal sounds to pair CJ’s gut-wrenching monologues, sometimes screamed, sometimes spoken softly, all diving deep into the uncomfortable stuff in CJ’s mind. 

“It felt horrible for a while, and scary, but the second we said, ‘Fuck it, let’s just write’, the stories would come out naturally. It’s the whole past year stuck into that last album.”

There’s ‘MadeUp Smile’ (“I don’t want to be the same as everyone, be false and put on a fake smile”), the already mentioned new single ‘Open Windows’, which takes aim at the way we live through social media and screens (“We’re all disconnected from one another because we’re living through open windows, and we’re looking for any reason to ignore the problem and pull the blinds closed,” says CJ), while closer ‘I Feel It Too’ is the most emotional song CJ and the band have ever written, and features spoken word monologues and piercing screams through five minutes of pure emotional outpouring. Looking back at this one, she simply says, “That song terrifies me.”

Having made a plethora of lifestyle changes between the recording of Primrose Path and its release, CJ has surfaced on the other side healthier and happier than before, meaning this album and these songs serve as a potent reminder of the darker places she and her bandmates have been, and it’s engrossing. Her shift in perspective makes ‘Primrose Path’ is an important reminder that not everything has to end in a desolate, desperate way. It’s an album that’s less full of music to wallow in and more music and stories to take hope and heart from.

“I hope people can hear their story. There are dark places… Suicide used to be in the back of my mind, but now I can’t believe I ever went as dark as that. It’s important that you keep taking the punches. It’s not easy for any living creature in this world, it’s a battle for everyone, but it’s amazing what you flowers can bloom at the end of it.”

CJ says