- Genre: 'Indie'
- Release Date: '9th October 2026'
Our Rating:
In 1993, Teenage Fanclub released ‘Thirteen’ – their fourth studio album. Now, in 2026, they release ‘Do Not Dare to Dream’ – which is their thirteenth album. If only they’d saved the title, eh? Although co-founder Geral Love left in 2018, the remaining core duo of Norman Blake and Raymond McGinley has continued, and the current lineup has been consistent since 2023.
Their sound has always been light, melodic, jangly, and easy on the ear, and it will come as no surprise to anyone that ‘Do Not Dare to Dream’ is not a radical departure. It’s largely acoustic-led, melodic, with the harmonies to the fore, and overtly reflective in lyrical terms.
As Blake puts it, “I think what happens is you just move from one thing into the next and before you know it, 30 years have passed".
McGinley adds: “Yeah, it’s been a while since we started doing this thing we do, but to us it feels like no time at all. In the place where we made the record people would have been singing thousands of years ago. Life is short, but music is eternal.”
However you read these statements, it’s clear that they feel that there’s a certain effortlessness to the creative process, but the obvious counter to that smoothy flow is the contention that they’re not really challenging themselves. But perhaps after all this time, they don’t need to: the fans aren’t grumbling, and while they may not be the commercial proposition they were during their days on Creation or Sony, they still get slots on Sunday Brunch and sell enough records and concert tickets to remain viable.
‘Over and Over’ is very much a slice of gentle introspection with a keen 60s psych-hued pop flavour, and something about ‘Be With You Tonight’ brings a dash of country to a song that has hints of Simon and Garfunkel and The Eagles about it. ‘Day in the Sun’ is a bright and breezy as the title suggests, although it’s laced with nostalgia, too.
‘Do Not Dare to Dream’ isn’t earth-shattering, but it showcases the neat songwriting and tidy arrangements that are Teenage Fanclub’s trademark.
