Underground Youth/ Laura Carbone - In Dreams

This 10", 4-song 45rpm EP of Roy Orbison covers is a collaboration between Berlin-based dark-wave rocker, Laura Carbone, and cult UK psych/noise outfit The Underground Youth. As 2020 developed into the year of the pandemic, both artists found themselves isolated and cut off from their accustomed work processes. Craig Dyer (TUY) initially toyed with the idea of recording a few Orbison covers at home; this seed then blossomed into a full-fledged labor of love project when he decided to pitch Laura the idea of doing an EP of four specific Orbison songs as duets. Equally hungry for a creative outlet under lockdown and eager to collaborate with Craig, Laura grabbed the opportunity with both hands. They each recorded their parts at home, sharing audio files back and forth until each song was complete. Laura and Craig then sent the raw tracks off to LA to their friend and colleague Scott Von Ryper from The Jesus & Mary Chain for the final mix, and then to Philipp Welsing in Hamburg for mastering. The four Orbison songs here were chosen to chart the age-old narrative of falling in and out of love and the deep longing for romance and connection we all feel. Easing in at the start, the more playful title track "In Dreams" captures that first quivering hint of impending romance, with all it's promise and risk. The classic "Love Hurts" follows, reminding us that for all it's joys and wonders, love is never a smooth ride. This theme develops further when side 2 opens with "Crying" and the realization that it's all slipping away, and the record and story then closes with the solitary self-medication that is "Lonely Wine". The "In Dreams" EP is itself a dream-come-true for these two pioneering artists. This well of cool water dug in an enforced creative drought is a worthy and heartfelt homage to loved ones past and present, and to another towering pioneer whose musical legacy still looms large today, as relevant and armor-piercing as ever.