LP - Teenage Fanclub - Do Not Dare To Dream (Pre-Order)

1 LP - indie orange vinyl - released October 9

Teenage Fanclub's "Do Not Dare To Dream" takes its name from Norman Blake's "I Do Not Dare To Dream", an infectious anthemic song driven by ringing acoustic guitars, joined at the end by duelling electric guitars that wrap around each other like a reassuring hug. Blake says that the title is meant to mock those memes that urge people to "dare to dream", which to him are "kind of ridiculous... I don't think the world works that way".

Teenage Fanclub's 13th album is full of songs that are calmly resolute, taking stock of the fraught state of the world without succumbing to despair. Blake and Raymond McGinley are joined on "Do Not Dare To Dream" by their bandmates Euros Childs (keyboards and vocals), Francis Macdonald (drums), and David McGowan (bass).

This quintet has played together long enough now that neither of Teenage Fanclub's principal songwriters and guitarists feel the need to fuss over their songs or work up arrangements before they enter the studio. They'd rather wait for the rest of the group's input. As longtime fans are likely aware, Teenage Fanclub record each album in a new place so that they can let its unique atmosphere influence the music. Great Bernera is their most remote recording location yet, which helped the band focus on the work but also put them in a place of awe, surrounded as they were by the crashing sea and ancient ruins.