“Last Night Was a Dream” by Paul Claxton is one of the most creative, layered songs you’ll ever hear. It sounds retro, with its use of warbling organ, acoustic guitar, and spacey vocal effects. Then, in the next second, it sounds distinctly innovative–verging on experimental sound design. There’s even a quickfire bluegrass section at the end. Listening to this track, you’ll find yourself bobbing in and out of the dynamic waves this song creates and holding on for dear life as it changes tempos, feels, and textures before your very eyes. It does exactly what a piece of music should do–it moves you.
A slide guitar greets us with these amorphous swells, jingling with percussion and thrusting us into the verse. Paul appears, crooning in a doubled falsetto a shapely melody. An acoustic guitar holds down the rhythm behind him, providing not only pace but endless warmth. An organ peeks through the mix just before the hook: “Last night was a dream.” With each word, the bass line creeps upward and the drums deliver a syncopated hit. The chord becomes somewhat morose and dark but soon resolves to a breezy major.
Another verse and chorus pass by, plunging suddenly into a third, broken-down verse. We live in this sparse atmosphere for a good while, drenched in background vocals and twinkly guitar strums. Another chorus takes us out of it and into the aforementioned bluegrass solo, which caps off the journey that is “Last Night Was A Dream.”
Give Paul Claxton a listen and a follow! You won’t regret it. He’s an insanely talented artist, musician, and creator.
Written by Alyce Lindberg
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