Houston singer-songwriter and producer Keshi is captivating listeners with his single, "Dream." The song is a beautiful addition to the artist's discography as he prepares to release his second full-length album, Requiem.
With gentle guitar strumming and keshi's soothing vocals, "Dream" embodies the experience of listening to music on a cloud, high above the world's problems. The song highlights how his current partner seems to be on top of the world, and he can only join her there on a good night.
The Lyrics: A Dive into Regret and Unresolved Feelings
Despite her optimism, regret and unresolved feelings about his past relationship linger in his mind. On the hook, he acknowledges that his current partner is everything he thought he wanted but can't shake the feeling that the person he's truly meant to be with is someone else.
He sings:
"She's a dream, the best thing to happen to me / She's a dream, all that I thought it could be / She's a dream come true / But I have nightmares it should've been you."
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"Dream is my idea of the perfect song," keshi says. "Lyrics vivid yet concise, production sparse but intentional, and wrapped up with a tagline that's supposed to gut you. It's about the 'what if' that keeps you up at night, and the feeling you can't seem to let go. It's beautifully haunting - the kind of song you sing with your heart in your throat."
His 'dream' refers to his current partner, stating that it was everything he could've wanted, but with the last sentence to the chorus, he states that the feelings he has for this person is comparable to a 'nightmare', where these perfections should've been his past partner, which refers to 'you'. These lines can interchange as well, where it depends on how the listener can try to relate it to themselves.
His performance is much calmer and relaxed throughout most of the track. As if he is whispering softly, he calmly sings in a sorrowful way which is understandable due to the songwriting and its meaning. I think this direction is a beautiful turn for keshi.
keshi - Dream
The Music Video: A Cinematic Visual
The accompanying music video, directed by Christian Haahs, transports viewers to a distant universe. Alone in the desert, he traverses the barren, rocky landscape as asteroids fall on the horizon, delivering an angel sent from the heavens.
"Requiem": An Album Inspired by Loss and Reflection
"Dream" will feature on the artist's upcoming sophomore Requiem, out September 13, alongside his beloved citypop-tinged anthem, "Say," which broke new ground as keshi's fastest streamed record, surpassing one million streams within the first day and 13 million streams since its release on Spotify alone.
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keshi’s sophomore album “Requiem” released on September 13 and is dedicated to his late friend. The album name references a classical music term for songs that are played at funerals, and the track list highlights those themes of loss and grief in life.
On his fittingly titled second album, keshi pays tribute to a late friend who was "a big champion of me and my art." The ever-evolving artist details how loss, existential questions and arena-ready sounds inspired his latest project.
The album explores themes of life, love, and loss, dealing with different experiences of what it’s like to be human. keshi manages to recreate the feeling of starting anew, yet at the same time, the feeling of being the one to hold everything together.
keshi brought that desire for change and newness to life on his recently released sophomore album, Requiem. Born Casey Luong, the Vietnamese-American star developed his passion for music in high school, when he discovered artists like John Mayer and Ed Sheeran.
You titled your second album Requiem. This requiem is for a friend of mine who was a collaborator [on my team], who passed away a couple of years ago. I didn't expect his passing to impact me the way that it did, but he was such a big champion of me and my art, and I don't have that many of them. I didn't realize how important it was for me. It really changed my perspective on how I view my time, and how I prioritize things.
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I think my biggest sadness is that I wish that he could have been here to see how everything that he did helped me blossom.
Here's a track-by-track breakdown of some of the songs on "Requiem":
- "Say": A lyrical piece that resonates with his past album and EPs, yet keshi gives the song an upbeat tone that brings the listener to a place of happiness and simplicity.
- "Night": keshi pours his heart out, detailing his qualms about the pressures of being under the spotlight.
- "Soft Spot": Centers around a love that is one of a kind, a love that makes someone give it their all, a love that has the power to alter your view on it altogether. The song’s beats and instrumentals are reminiscent of warm autumn breezes and soft hoodies -reminiscent of a fervent romance.
- "War": With a staggering drum beat, keshi portrays the feeling of inward anxiety and not wanting to be hurt over a crumbling relationship.
- "Bodies": Directly paralleling “War,” it details that finality and that heartbreak, where you have to relinquish that hope.
The flutter of butterflies, the hopeful tension, it’s all there at that moment.
With songs that interweave themes of life, love, and loss, “Requiem” is an album of complexity that deals with different experiences of what it’s like to be human.
Tour
The artist will embark on a 35-city headlining tour kicking off October 6 at Toronto's Scotiabank Arena this fall.
Requiem was designed for the global arenas that keshi will play during his upcoming Requiem World Tour, a 35-city run that includes stops at New York's famed Madison Square Garden and Los Angeles' Kia Forum.