With seven albums in the discography, including the latest Impossible Dream, Haley Bonar has made enough to be considered as a fertile musician. What is even more important is that the quantity is supported by quality. With each release, she was evolving and taking it a step further, so her seventh album represents the zenith of her career.
Although she grew up in United States, the fact that Haley was born in Canada explains why her sound resembles indie pop and indie pop music from that part of the American continent. Her sound is not overly produced or inclined towards pop, as most American indie rock musicians are. It is rather folk and alternative. Specific trait of Haley Bonar is that she sounds both familiar and distinctive simultaneously.
Impossible Dream is significantly more polished than her previous efforts. It is also more conceptual and mature. Even though Haley was always leaning towards dispersion of songs and diversity of themes, here we notice an emphasized irony pointed at female topics, which is clear from the song titles and verses such as I was impossible when I was beautiful or one day there were guys with a knife or your mom is right, she’s always right. At the same time, it is an auto-irony because Haley writes in the first person and translates her experiences to other positions.
Polished sound is best to be heard on Kismet Kill, a track that is authentic enough to become her trademark. Potentially, it is the song that can become a huge hit. Other standouts include I Can Change and Better Than Me, both proving that Haley is mature and confident in her art. Typical indie pop tunes with a touch of new wave style makes the whole record distinctive.
Stupid Face, Called You Queen and Jealous Girls are the most exuberant tracks, while Hometown and Skynz dig deeper into the autobiographical expression.
Haley Bonar found herself on many lists of best alternative pop releases thanks to this record, so it comes as no surprise that Impossible Dream sounds pop enough to be noticed, but alternative enough to not get contaminated with mainstream.
