Montreal-based musician Ruby McKinnon crafts gauzy, ethereal tunes under the moniker Flower Face, and she earned a spot on Stereogum’s Artist To Watch list thanks to her 2024 release, Girl Prometheus. She’s now returning with a fresh track that feels dreamy, glamorous, and remarkably pretty, titled “Bad Dream.” If Mazzy Star had cut a song for the Drive soundtrack, it might sound a bit like this. Here’s McKinnon’s perspective on the track:
Could you envision the whole thing? And if none of it is real, who bears the blame? There are moments you sink so far into a made‑up argument that you forget you have no real opponent, and, like in a dream, everyone is you, no one acts freely, you’re contending with multiple versions of yourself, and you will never come out ahead. You can project an entire life onto anyone standing before you, but as soon as they speak the illusion collapses; it only works when they’re asleep, only when they’re departing, only when they’re not there at all.
McKinnon herself directed the music video for “Bad Dream”; you can watch it below.
At present, “Bad Dream” seems to be a standalone single, but it feels like the kind of release you put out when there’s more music ready to follow.
