Get Lost 'DayDreaming' With Thanya Iyer

When we daydream, we're caught in a liminal space, shaped by existence in the in-between. It's exactly this kind of space that defines Thanya Iyer's music, which delights in moments of transition and change. Iyer — whose eponymous project also includes Alexander Kasirer-Smibert and Daniel Gélina — writes songs that flow seamlessly across textures and styles, never staying in one place too long. Across the Montreal-based group's Do You Dream? mixtape, moments of gauzy dream-pop gradually succumb to ambient experimentation, which cycles into jazz-inflected folk.

Iyer's lyrics often pose questions and ponder progress. "Do you know me better than I know you?" Iyer asks on "DayDreaming," backed up by propulsive harmonies from the Mawmz Choir — a.k.a. Brigitte Naggar, Shelby Cohen and Sarah Rossy — who Iyer describes as "a female-led crew who improvise and build mad harmonies together." Throughout the course of the song, a shimmering electronic soundscape interlaced with the Mawmz Choir's voices gives way to Iyer's poignant melody, like sunlight filtered through a canopy of leaves; gentle percussion sneaks in to gently drive the song forward before it ends in atmospheric entropy.

The video for "DayDreaming," according to its director, Bucky Illingworth, is about "the relation between daydreaming and personal identity," about the ways we escape through our thoughts and define ourselves outside our conscious realms. It features stunning shots of the band members, stark against the sky, overlaid with fragmented animations, which complement the song's refracted energy.

Do You Dream? is out now via Topshelf Records.

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