Southern California-based Filipino duo Dream, Ivory — the project of brothers Christian and Louie Baello, ages 24 and 23 respectively — reject convention with a cool confidence, unafraid to push beyond the unpretentious, heartbreak dream pop that has made them a name online. On their 2016 EP, the self-titled Dream, Ivory, they were hip-hop heads celebrated for their skilled shoegaze. Now, on their debut record, About A Boy, they’ve completely reinvented themselves: turning away from the second-person insecurities of their teenage days to, instead, interrogate their interior selves on their most personal record yet.
Most young bands might be fearful of taking such a courageous leap, especially when their ethereal vocals and guitar distortions have done them well: “welcome and goodbye,” for example, a single Dream, Ivory dropped in March 2018, has amassed over 18 million views since it went live across TikTok and YouTube (thanks in large part to the kind of organic growth most musicians could only dream about: fans uploading their own videos to the platform, using the song, celebrating its nostalgic and romantic qualities). As of April 2022, the single has 2.98 million streams on SoundCloud and over 35 million on Spotify, no doubt placing them on the map. Dream, Ivory, it became known, was largely influenced by Beach Fossils’ riffs, Beach House’s synths and pads, and Slowdive’s air-y reverb — sounds they were able to draw from and engineer into a wistful music all their own. Echoes of that early sound remain on About A Boy, but they’re elevated: referencing everything from The Cure and Garbage to Smash Mouth and Sum 41.