Books Of Moods – “Dream”

Books Of Moods is the solo project of Hugo Sailer, a Paris-based musician who does everything himself, writes, records, performs, shoots his own videos. His debut album Dreams was released on May 8, and it has 11 tracks, just under 35 minutes.

The album has a clear idea running through it: that the memories we hold onto most might be the ones we never fully experienced. It’s a strange thought, but the music makes it feel true. Space, Pt. 1 opens things up with a lot of room to breathe, and the record moves from there through love, stillness, summer fading out, desire, each track its own moment, nothing bleeding into the next in a messy way. It closes with Amoureux, the only French-language song on the record, and it lands like the whole album finally exhaling.

Sailer recorded all of this from his home studio in Paris. No outside producer, no co-writers. For a debut, that’s a bold call, and it pays off, the record has a consistency that a lot of first albums don’t have.

The music draws from the ’60s, ’70s, and early 2000s. You can hear David Bowie in there, some Beatles, a little Velvet Underground. But it doesn’t sound like an exercise in nostalgia. It sounds like someone who grew up loving those records and figured out his own version of them.

Give it a proper listen when you have 35 minutes to actually pay attention. Follow Books Of Moods on Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok to keep up with whatever comes next.