Twenty-four hours after the release of their first proper album, The Ultimate Dreamers celebrated the event at the CaliClub in Drogenbos. A venue they know well from their previous releases, the demo compilation “Live Happily While Waiting For Death” in 2021 and the mini album “Echoing Reverie” two years later.
Who would have predicted five years ago that The Ultimate Dreamers, a band born in Lessines in the second half of the 80s and destined to remain a youthful memory, would release a debut album in 2025? Nobody, not even Frédéric Cotton when he came across some vintage recordings in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. And yet, after a compilation of said recordings, a single, a mini-album and an EP of remixes, here is Paradoxical Sleep, the first full-length worthy of the name, released on the eve of this release party.
The set kicked off with a furious “Big Violent”, set against a backdrop of oppressive visuals, and then moved in a creepy direction with “Deafness”, the first of the set's heady new tracks. There will be plenty of these, as the whole plate will be played, much to the dismay of those who hadn't yet given it a careful listen. That said, in addition to the precursor singles “Spiritchaser” and “Digging”, several compositions had already been tested live over the last few months, notably at Le Botanique in support of Vox Low.
Dressed in a dark suit and sunglasses, the frontman was particularly forthcoming. A release party means people to thank, and he's not short on compliments. Misty for the visuals (particularly successful and key to the band's identity), producer Len Lemeire and talented lyricist Kelly O'Hara will all have their moment in the spotlight. Absent from the album are June Dune and Simona Ferrucci, whose recorded vocals haunt the powerful “The Knife” and dark new single “Into The Fog” respectively. There are also a few anecdotes and hints about the inspiration behind the tracks, including the genetics behind the addictive, electronically restrained “Energene” and the childish nonsense on “Kids Alone”, a cross between “Music For The Masses” and “Violator”.
While Bertrand Evrard, a diligent guitarist, and Joël Grigolato, a cheerful bassist, have been part of the adventure since the beginning, the group has now found a subtle balance in Sandrine. Although she takes a back seat behind her keyboards, she is nonetheless essential, especially when she swaps them for a cello. She transcends tracks like the bewitching “Looking For” and this stunning cover of “Giving Ground” by The Sisterhood (a side project by Andrew Eldritch of Sisters Of Mercy). AC/DC's “Hells Bells”, in melancholic-retentive mode, is another cover, a more classic one because it features regularly in their set-lists.
There's also the icy “Envoler”, which, incidentally, is the only surviving track from the demos to feature, in its new version, on “Paradoxical Sleep”. It features our friend Fred accompanying himself on a five-string bass (The Ultimate Dreamers swear by five-string basses...) and laying his voice over synthetic layers reminiscent at times of Kraftwerk in gothic mode. Traum', full of conviction and enhanced by Curesque guitars, and the catchy Far Away also stand out. As did the unstoppable “Polarized”, during which a microphone stand was accidentally trampled.
By way of encores, the band delve into their recent past, with two solid extracts from “Echoing Reverie” (the icy “Piano Ghost” and the heady “Midnight”) and a relevant rearranged version of “Japanese Death”. While the genesis of this track, which brings the evening full circle, dates back to the 80s, its evolution fits perfectly with that of a project in full expansion without losing its spontaneity. Or how to come full circle while looking to the future with serenity.