As the first — and possibly only — release this year from Bedroom Suck Records’ now once-in-a-while operations, this second full-length set from Melbourne’s capital letter-averse kisses has a lot to live up to, both in comparison to the label’s stunning sole LP 2025 outing from Sienna Thornton and the quintet’s own utterly sublime self-released eponymous album from 2024.
Through the latter’s debut showcase suite arrived a gorgeous manifestation of suburban basement-meets-back porch balladry. Laden with lush yet unvarnished entwined co-ed vocals, strung-out folk-meets-dolewave settings and hypnotic earworm songwriting that felt both effortlessly enacted and highly-crafted, the fivesome loosely yet adroitly joined the dots between Courtney Barnett, elder labelmates Lower Plenty, The Invisible Way-era Low, Freakwater and early-Palace Brothers.
You Are In My Dreams finds these core components recombined in subtly more grown-up fashion, with added newer ingredients. Whilst this does mean that some of the warming wraparound-hug intimacy of its predecessor is less omnipresent, the ten gathered pieces cast broader, deeper and occasionally darker spells that bring in Americana-adjacent shades of ‘90s vintage post-rock as well as plugging further into the rich lineage of melancholic left-of-the-dial Antipodean artisans.
Although the hooks take a little longer to embed themselves than before — through the intricate arrangements forged by impressive multi-instrumentalist role-swapping — You Are In My Dreams satisfyingly captures kisses commanding and expanding upon their warm enveloping niche, in a way that is unquestionably worth any initial effort and which leaves an appetite for more to come.
-Adrian-
