Four years since the release of her last album, Canadian singer Nicole Dollanganger has finally promised us a new album and teased us with the release of “Gold Satin Dreamer.” This haunting ballad conjures images of dark summer nights spent in the softness of nature, but with the feeling of lurking violence just around the corner. 

Once again, the true talent in Dollanganger’s lyricism lies in her ability to shock and disgust you. She will start with an image as delicate and feminine as her voice and follow with something gory. Her ability to make you feel safe then immediately uncomfortable shines through the lyrics: 

“I feel the bath, while I dream of a lake /

I can smell the blood purged from raw steak /

By the barbecue on a summer day in the sun.”

Lyrics like these read like a gothic novel set in some rural dreamland, the setting so much like where we found ourselves in listening to Dollanganger’s 2015 album Natural Born Losers. This song feels like another page of the same story containing songs like “White Trashing” and “Alligator Blood.”

While the method of Dollanganger’s lyricism remains unchanged, there are a few aspects to this song that set it apart from her earlier work. There is clear improvement in the production, as Dollanganger’s first few albums were recorded and produced in her bedroom. 

Also unique to this song is how the slow progression of her soft vocals, alongside the dreamy guitar reverb, never fully reaches the violence the song hints at. Instead, they bring to mind an open field under a purple starry night and a monster lurking somewhere within the vast darkness.

Listen to this song if you want to be sucked into the next chapter of Dollanganger’s terrifying and beautiful story.