"Close My Eyes" by So, Reverie
A quick catch-up with Andy Power of So, Reverie about the band's latest single and forthcoming EP.
Can you tell us a story about your latest single, “Close My Eyes”?
“Close My Eyes” is a really personal song, written during a time of personal upheaval. I wanted to reflect on the feeling of losing a person/people close to you in a very sudden way. It’s something I feel many people can relate to in a number of different contexts. It was the first song I wrote after our old band Avalyn had finished. The song and melody came out sounding quite uplifting as that was probably reflecting another side of how I felt at the time, that notion of “life goes on” and that there’s always light at the end of the tunnel no matter how difficult things can get. I would say that I am quite an emotional person that wears their heart on their sleeve. The songs where the lyrics carry the most weight are always my favourites and the ones I’m most proud of.”
It’s been awhile since we last talked about So, Reverie — what have you been up to?
It has been for sure! As a band I feel like we’ve used the time to write more songs and really hone in on what we want the sound of the band to be. At the same time, we’ve saved up to go and record a full EP in the best way possible! Two of the songs on our forthcoming EP were written during this time and they’re both going to be the leading singles going into the release of the EP next year. I also used this time as an opportunity to improve on elements of my songwriting, so in many ways I’m glad everything has happened the way it has! I also feel we’ve become way tighter and better at what we all do individually. We’re a far better live band now than what we were at the beginning and we’ve all improved a lot as musicians.
You worked with Robert Whiteley again on “Close My Eyes”. What’s special about Robert and what does he bring to the So, Reverie sound?
We love working with Rob Whiteley, he’s a good friend of ours now! I first met him when I was 17 and in my first ever band. I’ve known him for a long time and I really enjoy working with people when the relationship is more personal and they’re just a text or phone call away. I don’t tend to enjoy working with people when it’s a really cold and transactional affair. I don’t think that environment lends itself particularly well to creating good art.
Rob helps tie all of the ideas and the sounds we put together! With me being a huge shoegaze and Johnny Marr fan, it’s no surprise I get way too carried away with stacking layer after layer of guitars and vocal tracks together with loads of reverb. You need a really good producer and mixing engineer to help put the best bits of that together and make it sound cohesive. On a personal level, we get along really well, we’re both really nerdy about music gear and we just have an overall laugh all the time about the most random stuff! The studio is definitely my favourite part of So, Reverie at the moment!
You and Cain have played a number of live shows over the last year or so. What do you like most about playing live? What do you like least? What have you learned over the last few years getting So, Reverie up and going?
We’ve played some great live shows! We’ve been lucky enough to support bands like HighSchool and Bleach Lab who are big influences on our sound! Getting to share a stage and hang out with the bands you look up to most and have spent countless hours listening to is an amazing experience! It’s also great to learn from those bands on what’s helped make them successful. You just come away from the whole thing feeling really inspired.
The thing we like least about playing live currently is just the fact we don’t get to play more! We’ve been pretty selective about the shows we’ve played so far as we always want the bill we play on to be a good fit, which limits the amount of shows we play. We’re strong believers in quality over quantity which is something we try to apply to each element of the band.
However, with our new EP coming next year, we’re setting our sights on playing a lot more shows outside of our hometown of Liverpool. We want to cast our net as widely as possible to get as many eyes and ears onto the band as possible. The main thing we’ve learned over the past year is just to prioritise the writing and recording of our music before anything else, the quality of the music is, and always will be, the centrepiece that this band is built on.
What does 2026 look and sound like for So, Reverie?
2026 will bring a debut EP with six tracks, plus plenty of shows inside and outside of Liverpool. We’re hoping to put a UK tour together as well once the EP is released!
Any hints as to what we can expect from upcoming singles in terms of sound, themes, line-up, etc?
What you can expect from our upcoming singles are really poppy, catchy bangers that still have that sound you hear on the music we’ve released so far!
The full EP is going to be quite varied in terms of the overall style of the tracks, but I feel as though the lead guitar sound is sort of what binds all the tracks together with their differing songwriting styles. Some tracks are super catchy and upbeat while others are darker and moodier – it’s basically a reflection of the way we listen to music ourselves.
The EP tracks and singles all share the running theme of nature. A lot of the time when I was thinking of the lyrics I’d go on walks by this really nice forest-y footpath close to where I live. I’d have an instrumental demo of the song playing through my headphones and my surroundings would influence the metaphors I use. Being around nature has always been a place of reflection for me from a young age, which is why I suppose it really helps put me in the frame of mind to think of lyrical inspiration! The songs mainly focus on the topics of love, loss, dealing with change and finding a place of belonging.
I’m so proud of the body of work on the EP both lyrically and musically and I know it’ll be a great feeling to finally have our first body of work out there! The lineup is just me and Cain for now; we’ve got a consistent live line-up which really helps us deliver a tight performance at our gigs. Our long-standing friend Dan Jones plays all the bass in the studio and at the live shows. Our friend Sian from Blue Jean (my other band that I play guitar in) does studio backing vocals and is actually singing with us at our next gig for BBC Introducing Live at The Cavern! We’re quite lucky to be based in a very musical city where there are so many talented musicians, it makes it a lot easier finding people to help bring the live show to life!
Follow So, Reverie on Bandcamp and Instagram for news about upcoming gigs and releases.