“Fever Dream” Bridges Ibiza’s Sacred Calm and LA’s Unrest Through Jen Awad’s Voice
Jen Awad and Will Bates’ “Fever Dream” unfolds like a cinematic experience, immersive, dramatic, and deeply emotive. The song’s mystical atmosphere draws listeners in, creating a sense of suspended tension as if something is about to break or be revealed.
Composed in Ibiza, inside a 900-year-old orphanage turned musical sanctuary, “Fever Dream” absorbs the spiritual energy of its surroundings. The medieval frescoes on its walls show priests blessing soldiers before battle; they lend the recording a sense of transcendence, as if channeling something beyond the self. That symbolic weight lingers in every note, infusing the song with history, mysticism, and a quiet, sacred melancholy.
LISTEN TO FEVER DREAM HERE
Meanwhile, Los Angeles was burning. The wildfires, the immigration raids, the collective fear; all stood in stark contrast to Ibiza’s suspended calm. That coexistence of beauty and chaos became the song’s emotional core, a reminder that creation persists even amid turmoil, forged in the tension between opposing worlds.
“Fever Dream” is about learning to live after the impact. Where “Doomed to Loving You” embraced fate, this new chapter marks an awakening as the illusion fades and reality demands to be faced.
Musically, the song moves between the minimal and the monumental with a dark, almost ritualistic electronic base, while Awad’s commanding voice fills every corner with power and emotion. Her performance evokes the grandeur of Shirley Bassey’s Bond themes, yet pulses with the raw edge of dark wave and the grit of Nine Inch Nails. Her voice is at the center of everything, acting as the instrument, the climax, and the soul.
Each verse feels like it was written for a high-contrast film sequence, as though scoring the inner conflict of a character. The result is a song that is at once intimate and grand in scope.
“Fever Dream” represents a natural evolution in Awad’s artistry, reflecting her growth as she develops Valley of the Dolls, her multidisciplinary performance project that blends music, theater, and visual storytelling, while also writing new material and collaborating with composer Will Bates on tracks including “Doomed to Loving You.” In “Fever Dream,” their chemistry reaches a new depth, an exchange between two worlds. Awad channels the visceral force of her heritage and stage presence, while Bates shapes emotion into sonic architecture with a composer’s precision.
FOLLOW JEN AWAD AND WILL BATES ON INSTAGRAM
Photo by Ivan Darko
