retroBlog

From the Music Vault: The Dream Academy- Remembrance Days

Bio (from AMG): The airy, baroque British pop trio dubbed the Dream Academy emerged in the mid-’80s as one of the leading lights of the psychedelic revival movement. The group was led by vocalist/guitarist Nick Laird-Clowes, a former member of the short-lived Act; also comprised of multi-instumentalist Kate St. John (an alumna of the Ravishing Beauties) and keyboardist Gilbert Gabriel, the Dream Academy issued their eponymously titled debut LP in 1985. Co-produced by David Gilmour, the atmospheric lead single “Life in a Northern Town,” an elegy for Nick Drake, quickly reached the Top 20 of the U.K. charts; issued in the U.S. the following year, it became a Top Ten hit.
The trio’s follow-up single, “The Love Parade,” failed to repeat the success of its predecessor, however, and the Dream Academy’s commercial momentum stalled. After 1987’s Remembrance Days quickly dropped from sight, the group went into seclusion; when their 1991 comeback A Different Kind of Weather failed to restore their chart luster, the Dream Academy promptly disbanded. In subsequent years, St. John was the trio’s most visible graduate; in addition to touring with Van Morrison, she teamed with Roger Eno, Bill Nelson and others in the group Channel Light Vessel, and in 1996 issued her solo debut Indescribable Night.

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Their debut album was an undeniable classic. the follow up however, Remembrance Days, doesn’t really match the standard that was set on the debut but i still enjoy listening to the album every now and again, even to this day.

Indian Summer is sort of a retread of Life in a Northern Town but the strong melody and storyline help the song stand on its own. the other highlight for me is their cover of Everybody’s Gotta Learn Sometime. i love the mood and overall arrangement of the track. very well done indeed. Lindsey Buckingham had a hand in producing that song as well as Indian Summer so i’m guessing that’s where some of the creativity came from. unfortunately their downfall on this album is letting producer Hugh Padgham (genesis, phil collins) steer them toward the “80’s pop sound” which diluted what made them unique in the firstplace. listen to The Lesson of Love and Doubleminded for examples of some heavy-handed production. the synth patches used in Doubleminded sounds too much like Human League’s Keep Feeling Fascination for my tastes. not that i don’t like Human League, i *do* in fact, it’s just that it’s not what Dream Academy is about.
anyway, i miss the group and now that we’re in the midst of *reunion fever*, i’m hoping for some sort of Dream Academy comeback.