After their comeback with “Echoing Reverie” and an tour across Europe, the Belgian quartet THE ULTIMATE DREAMERS is back in 2025 with “Paradoxical Sleep” – an album entirely filled with new material.
First of all: it wasn’t sure who would review this album as there where some troubles towards past reviews. Some stated and proved facts didn’t amuse the singer of this band. Starting with the statement that having a vocal coach is a good thing in this case (their demo release is according to me the proof of why a vocal coach was needed), secondly: when French speaking people sing in English, sometimes you hear an accent (this was also clear on the demo’s AND on the previous tracks). In our internal discussion about who and why Filip decided not to review it and asked me: so I’m stepping in, free from any anger or retaliation from The Big Angry man (a word game, lads).
Now I understand that an artist works for a long period on an album that critics can be hard: but don’t shoot the messenger! Knowing the story and the history of their singer who can be described as a guy who plans it all in detail and for whom only the best is good enough … But if you release old demo’s where you sing like Soko, where the sound is still bad, where you can hear you are not a singer: expect critical reviews and accept it. The newer studio work, done with the help of Lemeire (Implant) shows that a good producer can make the difference. The work of the vocal coach start to pay off (still some work to do, maybe go for a lower voice, genre Joy Divisionor Siglo XX, so don’t try to sing high notes). Work on the French accent or go into the direction of Arno or Vive La Fête. All-right this was it for the section called good and friendly advice, let’s get over to the actual review!
Produced by Len Lemeire (known for his work with IMPLANT, 32CRASH, ANNE CLARK), “Paradoxical Sleep” features special guest vocals from Simona Ferrucci of WINTER SEVERITY INDEX on “Into the Fog” and June Dune of DEAD CRUSH on “The Knife.” And cherry on the cake, the addition of Sandrine’s cello on selected tracks deepens the album’s haunting, melodic atmosphere.
So far the info I received, let’s switch to the actual review:
Digging has already been released as a single with a clip. This is the song where I think Filip noticed the French accent (think of the word “often” for example). The lead guitar sounds pretty heavy: almost metal minded. I hear some other special effects. Mister Cotton uses a metal minded voice and as long as he does that it’s fine (hence can’t notice the French touch in his English). If you know it and pay attention to it, well, it might be annoying. The song can be described as coming close to gothic/doom but has also a cold wave range.
Spiritchaser has also already been launched and is not a Dead Can Dance cover. Once again I like the lead guitar and the bass. This one is more a cold wave track with roots in the 80’s. The music is great. After this I will shut up about the French “difference” and the perks on his vocal range.
Into The Fog (ft. Winter Severity Index): is sung with a deep gothic minded voice, whilst the female vocals are put more upfront. The music is a mix of 80’s Wave and post-punk. The music is great and the production is really top!
Energene starts like some arty farty track (genre what hipster bars play all night long) and has a bit of a disco feel. It’s so far the slowest song on the album.
Kids Alone reminds me a bit of Fad Gadget in the beginning (Back to Nature). The vocals remind me a bit of Eldrich (The Sisters Of Mercy). There are not much lyrics in it, but that’s fine.
Looking For brings in for the first time Sandrine’s cello (a highlight, blowing away the bad French accent). It’s a good song (minus the singer). Call it pop versus Dark wave.
Deafness has nice music, sounds soft and dreamy.
Traum is not sung in German, starts with an 80’s sounding guitar and a special synth noise: a bit haunting. The tempo is low, it’s a more introspective song.
The Knife (ft. June Dune · Dead Crush) needed a few spins before I could start my review as it’s somehow hard to focus on the review. It’s a soft poppy meets dark wave track. It’s literally feat. June Dune and not a duet. If you are a bit distracted you will miss her voice. The fact that I was a bit distracted means in my eyes that the song is not really captivating.
Far Away: post-punk meets dark wave. Mister Cotton does his best to captivate me, but I miss a relance and fire in the pit.
Envoler is sung in French: is a very slow one. There’s an echo effect on the vocals and lack of good articulation, making it harder to understand it, harder to confirm it’s actually indeed sung in French.
Replicant goes a bit faster, has again some kind of echo effect on the vocals and lack of good articulation. The music reminds me of some other track from the 80’s, just can’t drop a name here.
Awakening starts as a minimal wave track, gets extra sound from Sandrine’s cello and a kind of Adrian Belew guitar sound, some kind of Industrial minded layer and no vocals. A strange ending.
Well: put Tom Van Troyen behind the mic (think of what he did when he went on tour with Siglo XX, I’m still impressed after their last gig at the Mag 4, near the canal in Brussels) and you get a complete other album with better vocals. Don’t get me wrong: it’s a great band, just their singer (mister Cotton) can’t do much with his voice, yet: there’s a long way to go before he gets where he should be. From what I heard he will work on it, very hard and be very mad at me for pointing out the truth (as so far none or at least none of whom I have read a review dared to point it out). To put things in perspective: this could be a good opening band for JE T’AIME (THE French post-punk band of the moment, confirming what Filip wrote in a previous article): Mister Cotton could learn some stuff from them and no bad word about his band: they are really doing great, just as the producer!
Well this was it and it might be my last review for Snoozecontrol.be Have fun & stay safe and healthy!
Official video clip: “Digging” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b41wMvw0XAg
Official video clip: “Spiritchaser” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqsZXGwQXao
