Light strokes of funk spread through the opening track of Dream House, the latest piece from JW Francis. Core to his tracks is still the charming bedroom pop styling, but it is pushed further, advancing well. Going Home To A Party has the presence and upbeat feel that Francis is so keen to capture. It is immediate in its tone and style, thankfully pushing through with new qualities that will still feel somewhat familiar to returning listeners. That opening bass riff, the absolute and clear strength of Dream House in step with the rest of the upbeat meanings lingering throughout mark this Francis piece as an optimistic dream of a record.
Those energetic sparks are felt on Casino, inflections of the vocal range changing sporadically for Francis who offers up a great deal of variety here. His indie pop riffs are reflective of the isolation often felt at home, but project some thoroughly cheerful experiments. Much of that comes down to the instrumentals that scorch the likes of Our Story, its acoustic consistencies and the crooning style giving Francis that mid-60s Bob Dylan vocal range. But the standout work of Dream House does not attract much other comparison, it is a fundamentally unique piece that powers on through with the intimate fun of the jangle pop genre. Swooning is a great bit of fun, and that seems to be the focus Francis has for these tracks.
Three albums in and his consistencies lie within the light-hearted, upbeat pop riffs of jangle and bedroom variety. There is a fundamental deeper meaning to his tracks that will connect with an audience desperate for it, and that settles well into Dream House. Keep It Cool, Steve picks up the pace with a real frenetic styling to it. Those unexpected leaps and explosions of sound are a constant surprise to Dream House, an album which becomes as bombastic as it is creative. All Night Long takes a darker approach to the upbeat consistencies that precede it, but it all comes with the focus of Dream House and the shift it takes. The movement it has to making bedroom indie pop an accessible, broad-ranging blend.
Incredible work from Francis marks a genuinely fun album that sacrifices little in the way of quality as it matches up that consistency for upbeat charm with a feel of alluring jangle pop styles. A featuring piece with Margaux opens up Dream House to some new and vibrant qualities on I Wanna Be Your Basketball, a track that, in the wrong hands, would be annoyingly twee. Thankfully, Francis is a safe pair of hands, knows exactly what he wants to do with his bedroom pop style and presents plenty of acoustic-driven, quality music-making. His lyrical placements are strong, and his sound is crisp and unique. Dream House is the perfect example of all of those qualities and does well to cement Francis’ name in the indie pop genre. With tracks like these, it is hard not to engage, enjoy and endure the Dream House quality.
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