Shakespeare wrote that “brevity is the soul of wit.” However, the bard never lived in the time of tweets and TikToks that fight for our collective attention span, which is rivaling that of a gnat. To get your point across today, you have to be brief, direct and under 280 characters. Hyperpop artist Jack Goldstein drives home his existential message in under two minutes with his latest single, “dreams.” Proving that there is no time to waste for our future, Goldstein cranks out a hyperpop speedster to the nth degree.
In advance of the impending release of his album “The World Is Ending and I Love U” on June 24, Goldstein has entertained us with the joyous cruise known as “((((((SAILIN)))))).” Now, he blitzes us with a manically paced contemplation on nature and our place in it. All of the talk about climate change is either scientific or doomsday speech. Instead of scaring the daylights out of you, Goldstein mixes a personal awe for nature before slamming down a conservationist ideology. Quite simply, “the land belongs to the future. The future belongs to us. The wilderness needs our whole attention. It ain’t superfluous,” is as direct of a message you can get about the need to be a caretaker for the Earth without being pushed into using a paper straw.
Beyond the ecological message, Goldstein heightens the tension with a supercharged, hyperpop melody. At the start, there are tempered guitar riffs that give way to an electro jungle of synth-laden madness. By tightening the screws on this high frequency melody, a palpitating rhythm reaches within you and reverberates across your being.
While “dreams” is ultra brief in duration, it doesn’t depart without leaving a lasting impact. Whether it is Goldstein’s animated vocals or the hyperspeed melody, you are left recharged by it all. Countering our collective, splintered focus, “dreams” demands your undivided attention.
Written by Travis Boyer
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