Cherry Dream is not your typical pop artist. She’s got a dark edge to her music, a pointed angst that takes root both through her visual aesthetic and her incorporation of a more strained artful edge to her brand of pop rock. Her irreverence allows her to stand distinctly from contemporaries. There’s not a clear genre to pin her down to either. While the angst may compel you to think of her as a pop-punk artist, there’s a host of more futuristic and experimental production styles adopted that give her an exemplary eclecticism. It’s her narrative prowess that sets her apart for me, making intriguing song titles equally engaging tunes to escape into. Exemplified in ‘Queen of Bad Decisions’, Cherry Dream really thrives in the chaos of it all.
She draws influences from the pop rock groups of the 2000s. While that’s evident in the content and the general anger that she brings to the table, it’s in her experimentation with more electrical and experimental sounds that sets her apart. The catchiness and relatability of pop-punk is married with glistening synths, tuned vocals, and offbeat percussive elements to all come together in a confluence that’s dark but sparkling all at once. After her first single last year, the UK based singer song writer collaborated with a myriad of artist and designers to come up with both a sound and image to match. Her vocal work on this record, both from a singing perspective as well as from a mixing one is immensely imaginative. Using leftfield harmonisation, mixed backing vocals, all lends to give the listener more understanding of the main characters emotions and motivations.
In a time when pop-punk today mostly consists of rehashed melodies and guitar riffs that harken back purely for nostalgias sake without much attention or care for a modern reinterpretation or reimagination, Cherry Dream is undoubtedly attempting something distinctive and imaginative.