Italian singer-songwriter Marta Del Grandi has shared two evocative singles ahead of her new album, Dream Life, arriving January 30, 2026, via Fire Records. This latest work marks a shift from the bucolic nature of her 2023 debut Selva (reviewed here), toward a more detailed, contemporary aesthetic.
“While Selva had a poetic and bucolic nature – in my head I can picture each song as an oil painting – Dream Life has a more contemporary approach, with lyrics touching political and social issues, a more explicit personal storytelling and a more defined pop sound. It’s more like a photobook, more defined and detailed”.
The title track, “Dream Life,” explores the friction between our daily reality and our grandest ambitions. Marta reflects, “The title track was the last song I wrote for the album, just a few weeks before getting in the studio. It’s funny how sometimes I can have a song stuck in my head for months but somehow keep fighting with the idea of sitting down and writing it – then one day I hear a very clear voice in my head saying: ‘It’s time’.”
Paired with it is “Shoe Shaped Cloud,” a brooding piece echoing the brittle intensity of Radiohead. Marta notes, “Shoe Shaped Cloud was written in Sicily in winter, when at sunset I saw a pink shoe shaped cloud above my apartment, really powerful! That sight helped me process some feelings and thoughts connected to my personal life.”
Across the album’s ten tracks, Del Grandi navigates the blurred lines of memory. As she explains: “Coincidences and encounters kept taking me back to the theme of dream, memories and reminiscences, a dimension where the perception of real and unreal is faded and often undistinguishable. The songs reflect this atmosphere and articulate it in different directions, with more introspective moments and more surreal and extravagant parts. All the tracks have a connection with the theme, with a broad interpretation.”
Dream Life is a poetic, surreal journey into the present, arriving on January 30.
Pre-Order/Save: https://martadelgrandi.lnk.to/DreamLife