British singer-songwriter Suzanne Cook revives her folk-rock roots on her exploratory, moody new single “Waking Dream” – available now. Narrating the story of an ageing relationship that’s worn to threadbare, the song combines an ambiguous melody with R.E.M. influences and soulful, wailing guitar for a song that’s an entire cinematic experience.
I’m silent running, away from you
And the way we’re parting, it hurts me, too
And the best of reasons, lie with you
We lost our way, as lovers do
“It’s a love song about relationship that has worn thin,” Cook explains. “Perhaps this relationship was begun when the girl was still young, and she’s simply grown up and apart from her lover, who is too self-involved to notice the distance which is opening between them.”
Sonically, “Waking Dream,” the title song from Cook’s forthcoming album of the same name, evokes gray skies with occasional light poking through, thunder in its gorgeous guitar accents, and an internal twisting turmoil amid an outwardly cozy home.
“The key to the melody is somewhat ambiguous, never confirmed as major, or minor – a mode that reflects the mood of the lyrics,” Cook describes. “It finishes with an unusual cadence where the rhythm section stops, unexpectedly, on the fourth-degree chord. This creates a sense of incompleteness – there are questions yet to be answered.”
Recorded by producer Mark Plati (Prince, David Bowie) at the legendary Abbey Road Studios, Cook and her band captured the event on video, which will be released in tandem with the song. “The level of support and professionalism of the Abbey Road staff was second to none,” she said. “The very history of the place is an inspiration.”
“Mark’s arrangement is dynamic,” she continued. “He finds oceans of space which allows the song to breathe. I love the fact that he uses live string players; before this album we had always used string pads or samples played on a keyboard.”
