//Album Review\\ daydreamers Vulnerably Reflect On Growing Up Through Powerful Debut Album ‘Have You Tried Screaming?’​

daydreamers are no longer just dreaming when it comes to their debut album ‘Have You Tried Screaming?’ but they are bringing their hopes to life with powerful honesty and a vibrantly cathartic indie pop sensibility that doesn’t shy away from the darkness but rather embraces it with unapologetic joy.

After the success of 2024 single ‘Call Me Up’, which amassed around 80 million views on TikTok at its peak, the band have rightfully stuck with their breezy indie atmospheres, funky guitars and sugar-sweet soft vocals. Their debut album takes that sound a step further with punchy existential lyricism and warmer-toned instrumentation, adding maturity and a resonant introspective look at a world that often feels like it’s burning.

Kicking off the album is title track,’ Have You Tried Screaming?’, which combines shoegazey melodics with electronic-tinged harmonies and a yearning lyrical delivery that asks what some may see as a silly question,but anyone who’s an overthinker or has felt uncertain as to how they fit into the world will see as a part of their daily routine; It's subtle yet effective.

This aforementioned yearning and melodic nature continues throughout tracks such as ‘Saviour ’, which still holds the aforementioned track’s vibrance but is much more intimate, with isolated vocals,airy guitars and a building nature that tonally feels equally like the first moments of falling in love and falling out of it. Overall,  it is delicate in nature, yet poignant,as if at any moment its main character could spill over in tears at the realisation of what they’ve sacrificed. This track feels akin to the tonality of something like The Fray’s ‘Trust Me’ (How To Save A Life,2005) and is a bright highlight of this album’s first section, particularly with its no-holds-barred final bridge.

Another highlight of the album’s first half is the no-holds-barred, romantically yearning ‘She Is A Time I’m Living In’, which isn’t just about giving a lover everything they need but also offers it all in terms of musicality and atmosphere. If there was ever to be a theme tune for hopeless romantics, this would be it, with reverby vocals, provided by lead singer Riley, that don’t sing their love but rather passionately and mightily confess it, lyrics that strike to the soul faster than a cupid's arrow and musical atmospheres that soar to the stars, featuring dreamy guitars,and soft percussion with a delivery that would make Snow Patrol’s Chasing Cars offer a standing ovation. ‘She Is A Time I’m Living In’ is the true embodiment of every rom-com realisation rolled into one and a true gem in this album’s crown from start to finish.

As the album’s heartbreaking first section begins to fade out, its midpoint ‘Good Intentions’ takes its place as the perfect bridge between the album's contrasting light and dark tonalities, from its self-aware introspective lyricism to its sunnily carefree instrumental backdrop, which perfectly creates feel-good atmospheres all while keeping the album's authentic honesty at the forefront.

‘I Expect Better' takes on a more laid-back approach to healing than the first half siblings, with bouncy guitar grooves, dreamy intimate atmospheres, and heartfelt vocals that provide sweetness, comfort, and vulnerability.

In contrast,’ On The Internet’ doesn’t find full hope in its healing but rather keeps its cards to its chest, in a way that feels like an anthem for the music industry, asking the question that is on many artists' lips,’ Am I Good Enough Yet?’ with a sentimentality that feels heartbreaking to listen to, but also resonant for the common uncertainty that can be with entering their twenties, like many of the band’s fanbase. This track is a highlight, not just for its realism but also its handling of something so personal, which showcases this band as one to watch for powerful narratives.

Continuing in a similar vein is ‘Pieces of England ’, which is rawly nostalgic and bittersweet in its focus on fleeting youth and innocence becoming everyday mundanity as time passes, while also keeping the faith that they’ll always be magic to look forward to, even when the world seems dark; fireworks, and sunrises paired with images of just existing.

Closing out the album is ‘Start Living’ and ‘Hanging Around ’, which fall into similar categories of experience, yet approach them differently, with ‘Start Living' solidifying itself as a broken angel on the album’s shoulder, saying life is about what you make it but also don't falter with overwhelmingly aching melodic guitars, vulnerable call-to-action choruses and a fast-paced, dancing with tears in your eyes style final bridge. While, on a more meloncholic note, ‘Hanging Around’ takes its place as a cool-toned, softly cathartic ballad that isn’t quite the devil on the album’s shoulder, but more its melancholic younger sibling that is still finding its way with heartwrenching melancholy.

Overall,’ Have You Tried Screaming?’ is a gorgeous embodiment of what daydreamers have experienced over the past few years, from online virality to personal burnout as a result of personal experience and a meteoric rise to fame, and showcases that they are not and never will be a one-hit wonder.

‘Have You Tried Screaming?’, daydreamers' debut album, is out now. Click the artwork below to take a listen. If you'd like to hear the album live and in colour, you can click here