Olav Larsen and The Alabama Rodeo Stars are back with “Dreamer,” a song that doesn’t so much as whisper to your soul but grabs it by the collar and says, What are you gripping so tight?
“Dreamer” reads like it’s from the pages of a life-aligned, honestly battle-scarred and heart-heavy, but indomitably human. Founded on a platform that vibrates with the storytelling bristle of Tom Waits and the emotional weight of Neil Young, Larsen’s voice is unvarnished but complete of purpose. It’s the type of voice that’s lived through what it sings.
Accompanied by the ever-intuitive Alabama Rodeo Stars, the track opens up to a softly aching beauty. Sparse, folk-leaning instrumentation with ghostly harmonies that float alongside like a memory you can’t quite shake. And when Larsen sings, there’s nothing contrived, only truth. There is so much struggle in his words, which also grapple with despair and yearning, the distant light of redemption, but never in a way that feels performative. Instead, it’s incredibly personal and universally comprehended. Fans of those previous albums will also identify the familiar themes. Faith, but not in the sense of religion, which is something far more complex and real. The holiness of contact between people. The mythology of survival. The gospel of getting up.
“Dreamer” doesn’t simply rely on lyrical depth. The track has a feel. You can almost see the dust rising from a desolate highway in the early morning light, a distant figure seeking a vanishing point. It is haunting, yes, but also hopeful in the way only brutally honest music can be. In a world of surface-level feelings, “Dreamer” is a rare thing. It is a song that feels like a late-night conversation with an old friend, the kind that leaves you feeling a touch less alone.