This year started out with a dark cloud over it and each day the clouds seems to grow and blacken. Just when I think I’ve hit bottom, the floor drops out and I hit a new low. However, last week things started looking up when Donna De Lory announced that she released a new album (Welcome To The Dream Machine) with Anthony J. Resta and Greg Ansin, under the group name La Machine De Reve. I had no idea what to expect but who doesn’t love a surprise album from one of their favorite divas?
The sound that greeted my ears was a chill, space-age, hookah lounge sound. This is the soundtrack that Judy Garland would have recorded if she did Barbarella instead of The Wizard Of Oz. La Machine De Reve’s sound may be different but a few of the songs are familiar, Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes” and Madonna’s “Open Your Heart” are reworked and slowed down beautifully. “Point Of No Return” isn’t an Expose cover, much to my chagrin, but instead an unexpected rap song on an album that’s otherwise ballad heavy. “Steam Train”, “This Hero’s Journey”, and “Fall” create emotional postcards, while “Red Twilight” and “Temporary” are metaphysically psychedelic in their travels. In my gay opinion the best song on the album, “Hollywood Daydream”, blends feelings with serendipity into an epic love story.
Whether Donna is singing back-up for other divas, pairing up with fellow Madonna back-up singer Niki Haris, performing solo pop magic, chanting new-age mantras, or welcoming us to the dream machine; her voice is always music to my ears. I’ll follow her through any musical project but she’s best when doing pop and Welcome To The Dream Machine showcases her style brilliantly. This album is 2018’s silver lining so far!
