by Tyler Genevay
Global warming be damned: As New Yorkers enjoy this late-February burst of spring-like warmth, basking in the sun’s rays for the first substantial time since October, a leap towards our next season seems inevitable—and it feels pretty darn good. If you’re looking for an album to queue into the bright, pop-infused playlists that you’ll jam to while walking to all your classes for the next three months, then COIN’s third studio effort, Dreamland, is the LP for you. Fans of the Nashville-based indie-rock band will note that their latest album is reminiscent of their earlier works—2015’s self-titled COIN and 2017’s How Will You Know If You Never Try—while continuing their maturation into stardom, lending their considerable songwriting talents to a complexity-starved pop industry.
The album was recorded as the band kept a rigorous touring schedule, and that variety of locations permeates Dreamland’s eclectic mix of upbeat, contemplative, stylish, and melancholy songs. It is a robust production—spanning nearly an hour of music—that vies competitively for both the title of Song of the Summer (I Want It All; Cemetery) and the love-sick ballad that’ll prompt tearful texts to your toxic ex (Youuu). As the band grapples with their prolonged distance from home, Dreamland features songs reflecting their growth from college friends who bumped into each other in music theory classes to the touring sensations their work has made them.
With its variety, engaging lyricism, and trademark sound, COIN has released an album that appeals to music’s best sense of itself—the simple joy of listening and falling in love with a song, then an album, then the band—and Dreamland is the triumphant culmination of that torrid affair. For those already deeply enamored, this third effort will heighten your joy, and to those just beginning, relish this album as a vibrant introduction into something beautiful.
