BEST NEW SONG: JAGUAR DREAMS - JUST LIFE

NYC's Jaguar Dreams Show Us What Their Dreams Are Made Of On "Just Life"

In 1987, Carly Simon released the single "The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of." It was an 80s Pop ballad, simultaneously referencing both Humphrey Bogart in The Maltese Falcon and The Magician Prospero in Shakespeare's The Tempest. "We are all such stuff/that dreams are made up with."

'80s Pop. Authenticity. Literature. Magic.

Somehow all of these pieces come together in "Just Life," the most recent breakout single from up-and-coming electro trio Jaguar Dreams.

Artists and musicians are notoriously reluctant to discuss where they get their ideas from. "Everywhere," is the answer most-often given. In their own words, “Our collective life experiences are our influence. We don’t want to sound like anybody, we want to sound like everybody.”

Jaguar Dreams would have you believe the epic, emotive synthpop of "Just Life" is just another slice-of-life mumblecore anthem, like something from an early Modest Mouse album. When pressed, they'd admit that "Just Life" was written while living in a hut in the Amazon rainforest. Their time in the jungle also informed their name,  taken from the belief that South American shaman could swap consciousnesses with a jaguar while they're sleeping.

JAGUAR DREAMS - JUST LIFE

"Just Life" is Jaguar Dream's first single since the warm reception of their cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams." It's their first original effort to raise eyebrows and levels of consciousness, via their warm, trancey synthpads, spartan beats, and catchy vocals.

"Just Life" also hints at the personal. While Jaguar Dream aspires towards the universal, "Just Life" seems to hint at the clarity that hindsight can bring. They're unbelievably gracious and mature, hoping their partner (or whomever they're speaking of) is happy out there somewhere. Perhaps this is the peace that seeing the bigger picture can bring. It certainly makes for better music than some whinging, vengeful self-pitying emo tripe.

We Are: The Guard are terribly excited to see/hear what dreams Jaguar Dreams are going to bring us next. They're on a wicked roll, with two banging singles, which is almost unthinkable considering they've only released one slight EP, thus far!

J. Simpson occupies the intersection between criticism, creativity, and academia. Based out of Portland, Or., he is the author of Forestpunk, an online journal/brand studying the traces of horror, supernatural, and the occult through music, fashion and culture. He plays in the dreamfolk band Meta-Pinnacle with his partner Lily H. Valentine, with whom he also co-founded Bitstar Productions, a visual arts collective focused on elevating Pop Culture to High Art.