JW Francis gets cosy on his new album ‘Dream House’
The idea was simple: write some songs about love. At the very core of his expansive and playfully wonky new album Dream House, JW Francis just wanted to sing some love songs. What followed was an extension of that concept, although it began to twist and turn in a number of varied directions.
“Every year, about six weeks before Valentine’s Day, I make the following post on social media: If you send me the name of your Valentine and the reason you love them, I’ll write a song for them on your behalf,” Francis shared in the album’s promotional material. “That is how Dream House was born, three years ago.”
That means that, had this been any other year, Francis would be working hard on his Valentine’s Day songs right now. The number of requests that Francis received over the years led to a thought: could this be put into a more solid project? Instead of giving away these personal songs to their intended recipients, what happens to the really good ones?
“Over the past three years, I have received over 300 requests from fans to write songs for their loved ones,” he adds. “All of the songs on Dream House come from this project, some of them have been reworked to speak more to the artist’s life, others have remained exactly as they were first written. Ultimately, this is an album about caring for others, and the way we express it.”
Francis actually recorded the material for Dream House nearly two full calendar years ago. But he had a full album already slated for 2021: the ephemeral and wonderfully underrated Wunderkind. Once that album had come and gone, Francis had another artistic project to fall back into, one that had already begun and was ready to see the light of day.
The material that makes up Dream House isn’t made of any surprises. There’s no snarkiness or sarcasm lurking underneath the surface. There’s no winking or nudging or anything like that. For 12 songs, Francis lets the joy of love filter into his cracked view of indie pop.
That works great on some parts of the album. Fully fleshed-out tracks like ‘I Wanna Be Your Basketball’ and ‘You’re Changing’ contain just the right amount of naïve sweetness and heartwarming sincerity. When he starts to go off track, the album’s built-in concept brings him back to the centre. Since the idea of making a whole album of love songs is so simple, Francis is at his best when he stays within those parameters.
But like any artist, Francis wants to push himself beyond. That’s when the album starts to get a bit too saccharine for its own good. Does ‘Our Story’ have to be nine minutes long? Does Francis have to growl his way through the entirety of ‘All Night Long’? Losing the plot isn’t all that big of a deal when you take things in an exciting direction. Dream House has some moments that feel strained and challenging in all the wrong ways.
Thankfully, they’re few and far between. Francis’ slightly dopey and good-natured schtick is sure to turn off some listeners. His dedication to positivity and true belief in the power of love isn’t anywhere near the concept of “cool”. That’s honestly why I really liked Dream House. In an age where keeping things at arms-length is de rigueur, Francis’ wholehearted embrace of genuine feelings feels like the right kind of out-of-step.
Dream House has no shortage of goofball charm or solid musical ideas at its core. Even when Francis seems to get off track, the simplicity of his mission leads him back to the warmth of a simple love song. It’s not high concept, and it’s not overly deep, but there is something strangely endearing about both Dream House and the man who made it. With any luck, we’ll continue to get this kind of off-kilter loveliness from Francis in the future. I have a weird feeling that we will.
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