Neva Dinova: You May Already Be Dreaming (Saddle Creek)

Neva Dinova’s You May Already Be Dreaming is an incredible album with one complaint: it’s kind of a downer. I really like the sound of Neva Dinova and after hearing the first couple songs on this album I had an awesome attitude towards it, until it didn’t change much. I was looking forward to this album being one that I listen to on an almost daily basis, but I honestly can hardly get through a full listen of the album.

Not to bash the band, because they are really talented, but I got really bored with it. I found myself having to turn it off after just two or three songs. So, I did a test to hear the entire album. I listened to only the first minute of each song just to get the feel of it.

The first song, Love From Below, is actually probably my favorite. It’s reminiscent of Johnny Cash and I think it works well for this song.

One minute is almost all I can take of Will the Ladies Send You Flowers. The song is about death and dying and suffering through the process. Something I honestly don’t want to listen to on a daily basis. However to give Neva some credit, they do make the pain sound beautiful.

I can see the light! Supercomputer takes a turn and speeds it up a little; but only a little. My favorite part of the song is that it’s really cleverly written. “…and I’m gonna type in the numbers right, to build us a sky and then divide it by seven so we can give us some light.”

Cleverness always wins me over.

I’m not going to lie; I don’t understand Funeral Home. I’m really not that sure what it’s about; whether it’s literal or not. I probably will never know.

It’s not until half way into Apocalypse that it gets an actual beat. If I were leisurely listening to it, I think I would just skip right over it. The second part of the song I like a lot, the first half almost put me to sleep.

Lead vocalist, Jake Bellows, has a very soothing voice but he tends to drag his words along. What I have learned from You May Already Be Dreaming, is that Neva Dinova likes to repeat lyrics a lot, talk about sad things, and is a good album for a rainy day. I may not be totally digging this cd right now, but who knows maybe a month or two down the road I will realize what a fantastic album it is and completely regret not giving them “mad props.”