Columbus, Ohio's Baby Illinois has dropped a heavy slab of alternative shoegaze with their latest record, ‘Dreams of Dying’. This ten-song journey into the darker corners of the psyche is a striking and cohesive piece of work, successfully fusing the ethereal, layered textures of shoegaze with the stark energy of grunge and rock. For an artist who admits this genre is new territory for them, having previously explored a variety of sounds, the conviction behind this debut full-length in the style is genuinely impressive.
The album immediately pulls you into a turbulent world of laced grunge anthemics and stark emo sounds. Opening cut, ‘Lullaby’, is a raw and unwavering introduction, showcasing the central sound of the record: a dark, tempered heaviness driven by guitars that both float in dark washes of sound and cut through the digital haze with a tangible grit. It’s a sound that’s not just about the rolling shoegaze moments, but the feeling and tension behind them.
Thematically, the album focuses on the chaos of extreme emotion, plumbing the depths of love, death, failed relationships, substance misuse, and the struggle for mental health. The core concept of a separate, almost independent "side" of the self taking over in moments of overwhelming feeling acts as a powerful lens through which the artist processes these complex experiences. It’s an attempt to make the deeply personal universally resonant, as Baby Illinois shared, “We’re all fucked up in our own way, and it’s awesome.
While the fundamental shoegaze-infused sound is unmistakable across the ten songs, there are moments of change and evolution spied throughout. Cuts like ‘Anything’ and the soaring ‘Eternal Rest’ build upon the blueprint established by the opener, demonstrating a steady, confident delivery. However, the pacing shifts effectively on tracks such as ‘Arrogant’ and ‘I <3 Gore,’ which smartly play with the template, moving between moments of lighter melody and darker, almost brooding energy. The flicker of melodic light on ‘Suffocating’ offers another textured variation, ensuring the overall mood never descends into pure, unrelieved gloom.
‘Dreams of Dying’ is an honest debut in this space, one that should certainly help listeners struggling with their own inner demons feel less isolated and more empowered. You can stream the album today, and for more, join Baby Illinois on Instagram.
