Rostam and I have been longtime collaborators and have worked on all kinds of different projects together over the years. It's always something fun and exciting and new. When we went into his studio recently, we discovered that we're both into fingerpicking – some folky stuff, like Fairport Convention, Joni Mitchell, Anne Briggs, Judy Sill, that kind of thing. And so we just left there. It started with a riff that I had, super rough, with a kind of nebulous story, and it helped simplify the fingerpicking pattern and start shaping it into a more specific story and atmosphere. Rostam added some organ – a Hammond B3 – and some mandolin, and Joey, his assistant, who has studied Latin percussion, really gave it a lot of movement. Over the course of two trips to Los Angeles, we wrote, rewrote and recorded the song almost in real time, and I think that's something really new for us. For me, the song is about the power of imagining a different world – not necessarily in a fantasy or escapist way, but in an empowering way. About manifesting those deep-rooted wants and desires. Having these strong dream visions and trying to capture that moment before falling deep into dreams. Rostam and I love working on songs that can be read as both happy and sad at the same time and using that tension to amplify and understand the depth of those feelings and visions.
from our partners at https://pitchfork.com/news/ra-ra-riot-return-with-first-new-song-in-5-years-listen
