If you’ve been wandering through the hazy corridors of the Montreal scene lately, you’ve likely heard whispers of ‘Dreamo’, a special kind of local alchemy where dream-pop atmospheres blend with emo’s raw vulnerability. At the forefront of this movement are Dante’s Paradise, a crew that traded the Pacific breeze of Vancouver for the grit of Quebec, bringing a bicoastal sensibility to their wall-of-sound aesthetic.
Armed with their latest offering, ‘Collide’, the band are setting the stage for their upcoming sophomore record, ‘You’re Watching Live’. The new single, in perfect form, is a hazy dose of ‘Dreamo’ brilliance, capturing the excitement of breaking new musical ground.
From the jump, ‘Collide’ feels massive. It’s built on a foundation of dense, stacked chord voicings and thunderous drums that capture a genuine mood and energy, eschewing sterile digital perfection for something that breathes and bruises. There’s a wonderful grit here reminiscent of nineties noise-rock, yet the track is awash with shoegaze guitar chords that flicker and cut through the distortion like a neon sign in the fog. It’s a sound that leans into the influence of bands like Friko, balancing polished production with a spontaneous, almost improvised spirit.
Lyrically, the track tackles the suffocating weight of the modern grind. Songwriter Jay Cote doesn’t sugarcoat the transition from youthful idealism to the "cold and mechanical existence of life as a working adult." He explains, “Living with mental illness has become a burden, as opposed to the glorified character development it was in the past. I am now stuck with my choice of being an artist, and I have to learn to live with the fact that my art might not matter to many. It belongs to me and the people I love.” This tension—the friction between late-stage capitalism and the creative soul—is the engine driving the song’s intensity.
Despite the heavy themes of insecurity and the "washed-up" fear of aging, ‘Collide’ isn’t a dirge; it’s a communal anthem. It’s an honest reckoning with the idea that while the industry might be a machine, the act of creation is a sanctuary. As Cote beautifully puts it: “I have always been about the experience, not the outcome - and if experience, friendship and family were capital, I'd be a very rich man.”
If ‘Collide’ is any indication, Dante’s Paradise aren’t just surviving the wreckage of the daily grind, they’re turning it into something essential. You can stream the new single above, and for more, be sure to join the band on Instagram and Facebook.
