“Dream Song” wafts from the speakers as if from the back of the brain, several layers down, where daytime hopes and nighttime fears are found. The unconscious mind rephrases memories into mirages that glimmer on the horizon one moment and make no sense the next, immediate and distant. It blends realism with symbolism into a surrealistic stew; the same holds true for Bella White’s quavering vocal, a seemingly delicate thing that’s, somehow, superglue strong. Once heard, it sticks with you, takes up residence in the head, follows you to bed: “I hoped for a better day, one I wanted to remember with you/You came from so far away or so it seemed and you were in my dreams.” She still misses someone.
Produced by White and Ross Farber, “Dream Song” sports an old-school country arrangement built around White’s stirring voice and guitar. It includes pedal steel (Nicholai Shveitser), bass (Gina Leslie) and drums (Sam Gelband). It conjures both Maces Spring, Va., and the Canadian prairie, as well as past and present loved ones who show up in our dreams.
The Old Grey Cat 