‘Rose Main Reading Room,’ the fourth full-length album by Peel Dream Magazine, is a lush and inviting headphones record, perfect for city bus rides and rainy-day solo trips. Named in homage to BBC Radio 1 legend John Peel, the band has always been a genre-hopping experiment, moving from motorik krautrock to shoegaze and space-age pop. This latest work is an excellent starting point for new listeners, offering their catchiest collection of songs yet, full of romance and nostalgia.
Set against the backdrop of New York City’s iconic landmarks like The American Museum of Natural History and Grand Central Station, songwriter Joseph Stevens weaves personal stories into a broader narrative about the natural world, exploring themes of instinct, animality, and evolution. On the evocative “Central Park West,” Stevens, along with vocalist Olivia Babuka Black and multi-instrumentalist Ian Gibbs, creates a woodland soundscape with flutes, banjo, and acoustic guitar, contrasted by drones and electronics. “Dawn,” another track from the album, features arpeggiating woodwinds and mallets, recalling the contemporary classical sounds of Steve Reich and Sufjan Stevens.
Joe Stevens describes the inspiration behind “Central Park West”: “It’s a first-person account of me wandering through Manhattan alone. Much of the song references the Museum of Natural History, which has always fascinated me with its eerie dioramas and dim lighting. I also walk through Central Park, the Upper West Side, and the Rose Main Reading Room at the New York Public Library on 42nd Street, after which the album is named. The song’s woodland sound palette juxtaposes funnily with the cosmopolitan setting.”
Stevens adds about “Dawn”: “It’s inspired by Philip Glass and builds in a beautiful way. It’s a simple tune about the beginning of a day and all the opportunities it brings.”
**TOUR DATES:**
* Aug 08 Thu – Lee’s Palace, Toronto, ON *
* Aug 09 Fri – Théâtre Fairmount, Montréal, QC *
* Aug 11 Sun – The Sinclair, Cambridge, MA *
* Aug 12 Mon – Elsewhere, Brooklyn, NY *
* Aug 13 Tue – Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA *
* Aug 14 Wed – Union Stage, Washington, DC *
* Aug 16 Fri – Masquerade (Altar), Atlanta, GA
* Aug 18 Sun – Mohawk (inside), Austin, TX
* Sep 07 Sat – Zebulon, Los Angeles, CA # (Record Release Show)
* Oct 10 Thu – Desert Daze Fest, Lake Perris, CA
(* = with Wild Nothing, # = with Goon)