There’s a volcanic quality to Paige Renée Berry’s singing: slow, powerful, and eruptive. The vocalist and songwriter behind Half Dream has can inhabit a lyric so thoroughly that every single word illustrates a new level of emotion.
On forthcoming single “I Am My Own God,” in which Jake Ames’ pensive electric guitar progression melds into the celestial vibration of experimental veteran Thor Harris’ ambient layering, Berry applies her vocal dynamism to unrolling some particularly fierce indictments like “And you confuse me for someone who is weak?” and “You think you could kill me?” The track, hitting streaming tomorrow, commingles religious resurrection imagery with defiant self-empowerment.
She explains:
“‘I Am My Own God’ was born after a meeting with a sexist music professional and two subsequent whiskey drinks at the bar next door. What started as a lamentation of a specific instance of misogyny became the larger-than-life declaration of personal power it was always meant to be.”
The dream folk unit celebrates the single’s release tomorrow (Thursday) with a show at Far Out Lounge also featuring the Hermits and Glasshealer, plus the tripped-out visuals of projectionists Phantastic Lights and Nighttime Static. Be the first to hear “I Am My Own God,” right here:
This article appears in First Plates 2021 (Supplement).