Mister Romantic – Dream Review

Now, more than ever, we are seeing the overlap of creative passions. Perhaps this is because we have easier access not just to the creative, but their pursuits. Renaldo and Clara, a four-hour film featuring Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, would likely have a better audience if it were released at a time when accessing the film could be done while also doomscrolling through Instagram gambling reels. No luck! How the times are, indeed, changing. It has for Tim Heidecker, the actor-turned-artist, whose recent studio works are likely the very best of his creative energies, bottled in an emotionally charged and ever-present, genuine way. So too for John C. Reilly, who, under the moniker Mister Romantic, looks to release his debut album. Lead single, Dream, sets the scene nicely. A singular. There is a clear route to what the dream is, what is desired by this character.  

Dream is a passion project, that much is achingly clear. Passion like this paints a wonderful, singular picture. It is not too far off the Neil Hamburger style, the dated crooner looking to capture a new audience for his intentionally crummy yet still beautiful work. Mister Romantic has parts of that to it; the principle of lifting a dated style of performance into the modern-day is toyed with. Geordie Greep did the same on debut solo album, The New Sound, with a cover of If You Are But a Dream. Artists now are using their influences, the earliest moments of their lives and the songs they listened to, or found along the path to growth, as cornerstones of their creativity. It is refreshing to hear it take place on Dream, a song delivered with such conviction that it ascends the character-based suggestions and becomes a beautiful piece of work. Reilly’s take on the Great American Songbook is an essential listen.  

Nobody should be surprised by that, though. Little adaptations make this Johnny Mercer song an ever-present, relevant piece of work. You can hear the shore come in; the sleepiness aimed for takes hold as Reilly shares with his listeners a warm and delicate voice. We should humour these passion projects from artists popular in other fields more often. Chances are, the dedication they have for the tones of the past is genuine, as it was for YouTuber JSchlatt, as it is for Heidecker and the acoustic steadiness of his releases. Dream hears Reilly, as the Mister Romantic character, live up to the moniker. His crooner adaptation is an exploration of the fundamentals, and what can be added to those drifting tones, the sentimentality, is key to this experience.  

Should Reilly hope to “spread love and empathy” with this project, then he has succeeded tenfold. Dream is a delightful cover, a song which stands out not just because of a surprising voice, but because the studio additions are fitting of the Mercer classic. Cinematic audio is what Reilly described it as. His background in filmmaking, the aesthetics which he has helped bring from the backlog of creativity to the centre of how we perceive modern cinema, is adapted once more. A startlingly wonderful cover from someone whose character is created as a way of spreading positivity. Delicacy in cover music is not uncommon, though to hear it with such conviction and a charming, surprising voice which fits the period but also modernises the Mercer classic, that is a treat.