Musicians often complain about the remote collaboration process, where songs can be recorded without a singer ever sharing studio time with his or her producer. Maven Grace - a transnational quartet that hails from Hong Kong, Ireland, Rome, and London - have decided to embrace the idea of working across different time zones in the hope of pursuing a new aesthetic: "Ideas that occur to one of us in broad daylight are filtered in real time through the sensibilities of someone else several time zones away. Creatively connected but often separated by thousands of miles, we end up writing music that would never be produced if we were always sitting in the same room."
The art of navigating physical - and emotional - distances is certainly evident on their debut single "Innocent Dreams". The transcendent and worldly dream pop tune features lyrics from the perspective of vocalist Jason Magnus, who is half-Chinese and half-English. The identity crisis that often accompanies biracial individuals is effectively evoked by the opening Mandarin verses, which translate to "In truth, there’s a certain freedom to being misunderstood". The first English verse points towards the sense of rootedness provided by familial bonds before Magnus hints at his own sense of disconnection: 'A body fallen/ Down the line'. This becomes more explicit in the melancholic poeticism of 'Comfort of home, many a mile away/ No place to stay.'
'Sun above/ Hopes below/ Shadow in a coffin/ And boats to row': "Innocent Dreams" strikes a breathtaking balance between optimism and despair. Magnus' resignation towards his deep sense of alienation never truly abates, but the female backing vocals ('You can still turn this around/ I'm coming up for air'), kinetic electronic beats, and sweeping guitar riffs prevent him from drowning in pessimism. The song ultimately ends on a hard-won note of hopefulness ('Innocent dreams/ Don't disappear'), effectively reinforcing its ability to serve as an antidote to anguish. As Magnus noted, music itself often provides that sense of emotional security that eludes many people in their daily lives: "It’s where everyone belongs, whoever they are and wherever they’re from.”
