If music had a time machine, Michellar just cranked it to 1967 and handed us all a one-way ticket. Released on March 28, 2025, Dreaming isn’t just a single—it’s an invitation into a vintage, technicolor world where echoing guitar riffs, cinematic flair, and dreamy vocals meet in a perfect haze. And whether you grew up spinning vinyl or streaming playlists, this track hits like déjà vu and a revelation at once.
Michellar, the musical alias of San Francisco-based artist Michelle Bond, has always shown a flair for blending nostalgia with authenticity. But on Dreaming, she completely leans into that psychedelic past, conjuring the spirit of the ’60s with such elegance that it feels effortless. From the very first note, the track opens a portal: picture a smoky lounge, gold-dipped silhouettes, and a mysterious figure leaning against a jukebox while the world melts away around them. That’s the visual power this single commands.
Produced by Toby Wilson in the UK, with Michelle recording her vocals in San Francisco at the all-female-run Women’s Audio Mission Recording studio, Dreaming is a true cross-continental creation. The track is a perfect example of what happens when meticulous production meets passionate artistry. The mixing is pristine but not sterile—every element has space to breathe, like an old film score rediscovered in full technicolor. The guitar work is front and center, swirling with reverb and shimmer, a direct line to the golden age of psychedelic rock but framed through a modern lens.
Michelle’s vocals, soft yet commanding, float above the instrumentation with an ethereal quality that’s hard to pin down but impossible to ignore. There’s something deeply cinematic about her delivery—at times seductive, at times distant, like a siren calling from another dimension. The lyrics tap into that half-conscious place between sleep and clarity, the realm where longing and imagination collide. You don’t just hear Michellar’s Dreaming—you feel it hovering over your shoulder, like a secret you’re trying to remember.
Despite the retro aesthetic, Dreaming is far from a pastiche. Michellar doesn’t merely mimic a sound—she reimagines it. This isn’t nostalgia for the sake of trendiness. It’s an artistic excavation of the sounds that shaped entire generations, filtered through the mind of a modern-day poet with a mission. And it works. The song walks that tightrope between eras without ever slipping into parody or self-indulgence. It’s a delicate balance, but Michellar has clearly done the work to get it right.
What’s even more impressive is how the geography of the track becomes part of its magic. With instrumentation tracked in the UK and vocals captured in California, Dreaming spans oceans without ever losing cohesion. It’s a musical postcard from two continents stitched into a single, dream-soaked love letter to vintage cool and emotional honesty. The transatlantic collaboration adds depth to its already rich texture, giving the song a feeling of expansiveness that transcends its runtime.
Michellar’s Dreaming isn’t just a standout single—it’s a sonic experience that lingers. It’s the kind of track you put on repeat and discover something new with each listen: a guitar lick you didn’t notice before, a lyrical turn that hits different on a rainy afternoon, a background harmony that suddenly feels like it was meant just for you. It’s a timeless tune that bends genres and expectations, wrapped in velvet and dipped in gold.
With Dreaming, Michellar proves that the past isn’t just for remembering—it’s for reimagining. And if this is what dreaming sounds like, we’d rather not wake up anytime soon.
