I Had a Dream That You Were Mine

It's a beautiful, rolling trip.

Leithauser and Rostam have clearly tapped into the long, illustrious history of the great American pop standard for inspiration on these dynamic new songs, offering up their own inventive twists on the art form to keep the expressive dialogue going for a whole new generation.

It’s not that Leithauser has dramatically changed since his days in the Walkmen; rather, pairing with Rostam has brought out the best in him. It’s rare for collaborative albums between known entities to feel like equal reflections of both parties, but Rostam find a middle-ground in mutual longing for the past.

Their playful mutability keeps them from being genre exercises and makes I Had A Dream a delight. [No. 137, p.57]

A finely observed, immaculately produced work, full of diversions, hooks, and charm.

The pairing works, and although there are two, even three tracks that verge on the forgettable, the likes of the utterly sublime The Morning Stars, and the way Sick As A Dog builds to its rousing climax of “I use the same voice I always have,” more than compensate.

It would be easy to say that I Had a Dream That You Were Mine rivals Rostam and Leithauser's past work, but it's better to say that it's the beginning of a great partnership.

I Had A Dream That You were Mine is a record that manages to capture that closeness and intimacy perfectly.

It may tail off towards the close, but genuine warmth emanates throughout. A partnership that’s charged with ideas, this feels like a collaboration that’s only just getting going.

Hamilton + Rostam synthesizes two distinct musicians for a sound that's ultimately greater than the sum of its parts.

The ambience of tracks such as Rough Going (I Won’t Let Up) is that of a boozy after-hours session in a backwater bar, while In a Black Out begins with fingerpicking guitar and choral backing vocals before being propelled into a dusty shuffle. But at the centre of it all is Leithauser’s distinctive voice--battered, bruised and pushing the Rod Stewart gravel-and-sandpaper-ometer into the red.

The one-man band that is Rostam Batmanglij enjoys co-billing status here as the pair deliver a follow-up that goes bigger and better in the way that a worthy sequel should.

Persuasively moody. ... More than anything, it seems the simple byproduct of strong personalities enjoying the process of finding common ground.

More than the sum of their parts, if there's a collaborative sweet spot, this record hits it. [Oct 2016, p.111]

A palpably open and free atmosphere underscores these songs, on which the same exotic and dexterous musical arrangements Rostam honed with his old band allow Leithauser's sandpaper Sinatra to truly swing. true dream team. [Oct 2016, p.96]

It's when Leithauser plays on his home ground of rueful romantic desperation (as he does on the title track), though, that he really hits his stride. [Oct 2016, p.31]

I Had a Dream You Were Mine overflows with satisfying and complex melodic shape.

The production is superb, crisp drums that pop, keys that sparkle and tones that you recognize from Rostam’s other production. ... When Hamilton and Rostam record together they use the same voice.

The majority of I Had A Dream just doesn’t stick as deep, brushing past in a breeze of strained vocals and intricate arrangements.

There are moments on I Had a Dream when their perspectives lock together and strike you in the gut.

A solid debut then, full of yearning and barstool tales.