A Dream Is All We Know

Overall, it’s a testament to the world-class songwriting of The Lemon Twigs that at no point does the record fall into the realms of ‘too much’. For most, it would be hard to strike that balance, but The Lemon Twigs absolutely master the art of crooning sugary pop-rock in the best of ways.

The LP opens with “My Golden Years”, a delectable mélange of Harrisonian 12-string riffs, Wilsonian harmonies and layer-cake hooks, and reaches its apex with the glorious Beach Boys homage “In The Eyes Of The Girl”, with Sean Ono Lennon co-producing and playing bass. [Jun 2024, p.35]

A Dream Is All We Know is that rare thing: a perfectly crafted, concise collection of 12 songs that brim over with good-will and optimism.

The Lemon Twigs creates a meditative bliss on A Dream Is All We Know. Whether they’re making pop tunes that evoke the serenity of cherry blossom trees or bluesy rock that fills the room with heavy riffs, this project has a specific calmness that found a home in Beatles-inspired pop.

As with 2023's downbeat Everything Harmony, what might be a Beatles-beach-Boys-Big-Star data-scrape is elevated through high-calibre songwriting. [Jun 2024, p.82]

“The album’s aiming for something timeless,” Michael recently told Mojo, and it’s impressive how often this record lives up to that ambition.

A Dream Is All We Know flows seamlessly, with no snags disrupting its mellow mood-tapestry, right up until final track Rock On (Over And Over) throws us a curveball by actually glamming out, Bolan-style, as if to say, “Here’s what you thought we were about”. Superb.

Recorded to tape and mixed and mastered by the brothers using “of-the-era” equipment, the record sharpens their approach to a knife-edge; the album is so steeped in nostalgic atmosphere that it sounds like a lost artifact from Brian Wilson’s basement. It is also expertly constructed, with several moments of blissed-out, hyper-melodic songcraft.

Their twee tone and lighthearted energy, which persist despite the album’s often pensive and wistful lyrical content, mask serious craft and scholarly mastery of the complex techniques the Lemon Twigs’ forbears invented. Riches abound.