In My Dreams I'm There

I have a million fantasies a minute," says Chicago musician Devin Shaffer, explaining the background of her debut LP In My Dreams I'm There. "I'm a chronic daydreamer - I don't have just one pipe dream sitting there, but possibilities that rotate constantly through my mind as a means of escape." To a first-time listener, the album - a collection of songs that juggle folk, ambient music, and experimental traditions - may not scream "escape" so much as transversal - across land, ideas, emotions, and dreams themselves. Shaffer does this by wielding field recordings, fingerpicked guitar, synthesizers, and her gentle, lullaby voice, showcasing not just one dream or locale, but a way to click through them like channels on a television. The album starts from a place of fear and hesitance that eventually ends in acceptance and beauty. Here is the simple, profound realization that life is beautiful, and that loving, even loving music, doesn't require validation or reciprocation."1. Drive Into Woods 2. Enemy 3. In My Dreams I'm Offline 4. HOW? 5. Carina Searches for Hollow Rock, North Carolina 6. Kissing In The Park 7. Heavy Baby 8. Taste You With My Mouth Closed 9. Dreaming 10. In My Dreams I'm Here