Cannons have been having dreams.
Bad dreams, good dreams, dreams of the fever variety — all dreams are welcome, when it comes to the Los Angeles trio’s dedication to making it in an industry that loves to reward sameness.
Alternative rock radio is in a bit of a weird place right now. Throughout the last year and a half, the artists that have topped Billboard‘s Alternative Airplay chart and garnered significant radio play are either Imagine Dragons, Twenty One Pilots, a band with a 20+ year history, or a band desperate to reclaim the popularity they had ten years ago. Needless to say, there’s a big lack of originality swimming throughout commercially-accepted Alt Rock Lane.
But every so often, a band breaks through offering something different, fresh, authentic, and cleverly positioned against the grating chug or frustrating generality of the most frequent charters. Lately, that breakthrough rightfully belongs to Cannons, who burst onto the scene in 2020 with the undeniable “Fire For You.” And Cannons are continuing to rise on Billboard‘s Alternative charts with “Bad Dream,” the driving, hazy lead single from their upcoming third studio album Fever Dream (out March 25th).
Cannons create blissed-out dream pop that’s indebted both ’80s era synthwave, and Drive‘s cinematic, neon-soaked soundtrack, equally riveting as it is relaxing. Their recent success definitely comes as a surprise to the band, which is comprised of singer Michelle Joy and multi-instrumentalists Paul Davis and Ryan Clapham, but they’re mostly feeling blessed that they were allowed to quit their day jobs after signing with Columbia Records in 2020.
“To be able to make this our full-time job is absolutely our dream,” Joy tells Consequence over Zoom. “It was super, super surreal to have such success over the time period that we have had.”
The cinematic flair of Cannons’ sound comes from a couple inspirations points — of course, all three members share a love of film and the stylized sonic environments that come with it. But Joy and Davis find that the best compliment they can get is how their music can perfectly soundtrack a night drive through city lights. Songs like “Hurricane,” and the gorgeous “Tunnel of You” are active, widescreen trips, evoking both the desert, the beach, and every California vibe in between.
