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Dreams Tonite

A synth-led breakup song, played live for more than a year before it came out.
Alvvays, from Antisocialites (2017)

Written by
Molly Rankin, Alec O'Hanley
Released
25 July 2017
Length
3:16
Album
Antisocialites

The second single from Antisocialites joined the live set in early 2016 and was released on 25 July 2017. Pitchfork's Amanda Wicks described it as looking at the liminal space between what might have been and what wasn't, and noted that woozy synths replace the band's usual string-heavy leads, nodding to Chromatics and Beach House. The narrator asks whether she would have the other person in her dreams if she saw them on the street today. Wicks wrote that Rankin keeps her voice stoic for most of the song and lets it wrench near the end.

The video, directed by Matt Johnson, puts the band into archival footage of Montreal's 1967 world's fair. The band played the song on CBS Sunday Morning. It was nominated for a SOCAN Songwriting Prize in 2018, and by September 2024 had more than 105 million Spotify streams.

More songs by Alvvays

Archie, Marry Me, Pharmacist, Easy on Your Own?, Belinda Says

Sources

  1. Alvvays: Dreams Tonite Track Review, Pitchfork (2017-07-26)
  2. Dreams Tonite, Wikipedia