There’s something special happening inside the music scene in Brighton, and Caramel’s explosive, unique and powerful sound simply highlights that fact. ‘Dreams of 60s Counterculture’ is the band’s brand new single, and it’s a track that transports the listener back in time. The 60s to be precise – and the sun-filled, carefree days of the time. A classic rock tune, with sprinklings of pop in between, Caramel explores society’s lack of interest and curiosity with today’s world leaders and events. Why do we still worship and idolise icons from the past? “This century just doesn’t suit me anymore,” proclaim lead vocalists (yes vocalists) Jamie Broughton and Olly Parkes. Drawing inspiration from a wide variety of artists, including the likes of Jeff Buckley, Queens of the Stone Age and Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Caramel have managed to create a diverse yet distinctive sound that will certainly stand them in good stead going forward.
‘Dreams of 60s Counterculture’ will take you back to a simpler time. A time of women with flowers in their hair and simple twelve-bar blues progressions.
CARAMEL
What does the song mean to you?
This track was written with a bygone era in mind. We realised that we, and our friends, cover our walls and clothes with posters and cut-outs of musical icons from the past and that we do so because of our lack of interest and engagement with today’s public figures and events. We wanted to write a song that explored these themes, expressing our millennial feelings of despondency and dissatisfaction with post-modern culture. This song is for anyone that wishes to be in a time that is not their own and celebrates their eccentricities, rather than conforming to the social norm.
Who do you hope the song resonates with the most?
We hope that this song resonates with everybody that feels somewhat disassociated from the tropes and trials of the digital age. We hope that anyone experiencing despondency with their cultural surroundings, or just wishing to transport themselves to a different time and energy, will find solace in this music. The song was written with the millennial generation in mind, but we didn’t want to exclude any listeners of a more advanced age, so there are references, both sonic and lyrical, to genres and conventions of the past.
Tell us about your creative process and how the song came to be?
(The words of the track’s lead singer and songwriter – Jamie Broughton)
I wrote ‘Dreams of 60s Counterculture’ a couple of years back in the summer of my first year at university, sat in a puddle of sunlight, in my bedroom, staring listlessly at my Beatles poster and wondering why it was that I elevated these figures over any other contemporary icon. I became fascinated with mine and my friends desire to escape from the over saturated, digital environment of millennial culture; Idolising another period in time or movement of thought and aesthetic seemed to me to be the easiest way of doing so. I wanted to capture the defiance that I feel whenever a figure, typically of authority, asks me to conform and belong to an aspect of modern culture that I feel no association or connection to. That’s the reason for all the ‘No!’s that spring up throughout the track.
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Now you can listen to all the 39 songs in one place, right here on Spotify!
This coverage was created in collaboration with Musosoup as part of the #SustainableCurator movement.
