A true treasure in today’s wide world of indie music, Pieta Brown brings a beautifully singular flair to everything she does. And her new album Dreamin’ Of (August 2026) is sublime sonic proof. Set against the backdrop of painterly arrangements designed to support Pieta’s captivating vocals and razor-love storytelling, each of the record’s ten songs is its own vivid portal. Addressing timely and timeless topics of Nature, Love, Loss, War and Addiction unapologetically, together the songs function as a kind of cinematic song cycle - stunningly introduced by the opening “Time Of The Night” prelude. “It’s the time of the night when the world is full…” Pieta croons, calling all dreamers in the midst of a real world that has become hard to imagine. “Tell me what you’re dreamin’ of,” she urges a few songs later in the mesmerizing chorus of the title track, “Let me be an outlaw for your love…”
Hailed as a “self-styled poetess, folk goddess, and country waif” by the BBC, Pieta Brown first came to international prominence with the release of her self-titled debut in 2002. Since then she has relentlessly expanded her artistic prowess, releasing multiple albums, EPs, and singles earning widespread acclaim from The New York Times, NPR Music, Stereogum, Billboard, Bust and beyond - garnering meaningful attention from artists and mentors along the way; including such luminaries as John Prine, Mavis Staples, Ani DiFranco, Don Was, Iris DeMent, and Bon Iver mastermind Justin Vernon, who once called Pieta’s album Paradise Outlaw his “favorite album recorded at our studio.” Vernon generously offered his studio again in recent times as a place for Pieta to finish recording her magnetic new album.
Her most intimate “Pieta” sounding, and biggest feeling record yet, Dreamin’ Of fully illuminates the alluring edges inherent in Pieta’s songs and stylings. Lush harmonies, potent ambience, and incandescent grooves interlace throughout the album. Pieta’s command of nuance shines, and through a fiercely tenderhearted and imaginative lens resilience surfaces repeatedly. The results are powerful and poetic. And as with all great songwriters her songs immediately feel like they belong - suddenly you’re humming along.
Recorded in two Midwestern outposts (Good Harbor / April Base), Dreamin’ Of was produced by Pieta with Bon Iver cohorts Sean Carey and Mike Lewis. Both known for their supreme musicianship, their combined list of credits is expansive: Peter Gabriel, Bonny Light Horseman, Andrew Bird, Gordi, Tallest Man On Earth, Bruce Hornsby, and Bizhiki included. And while Carey and Lewis have their own abiding musical synergy, the evidence of their unique chemistry with Pieta is audible - and moving. Shimmering throughout the album are masterful contributions by musicians connected to Pieta’s world in some way - all artists in their own right: Jeremy Ylvisaker, Bertand Belin, Amos Lee, and Bo Ramsey offer brilliance. Barbara Jean Meyers, Bryan Vanderpool, and Romain Collin add vivid inside layers. “There is so much charged communal chemistry on this album,” Pieta says. “Everyone gave so much.”
Pieta wrote the song “Dreamin’ Of” in a “dream-like-fever-state” after reading a story in the news of a father who was “somehow urging love and tenderness right after losing his children to war.” Days later she drove 12 hours straight to Mike Lewis’ basement in the woods of Northern Minnesota to try recording with Mike, Sean, and engineer Brett Bullion. In just a couple of experimental days and nights the heart of the album had come into being with a final recording session out in the country near Eau Claire, WI.
The worlds Pieta and her illustrious crew have conjured on Dreamin’ Of are layered and wide-ranging. While there is a slow-burn element to the album, it is the “serious firepower” groove-heavy kind built into Pieta’s touch. Like dreams, the songs twist and turn and surprise; from the wondrously intimate frontiers of “Nothin’ But Trouble” and “Someday Someday” to the enigmatic harmony-drenched “Laura” and “Was The One,” in which Pieta artfully plays with time, distance, and mood. From the majestic poetry of “Love Letters” and “So This May I” to the pop-tinged pent-up anthemic glimmers of the album’s luminous closer “Glitter Town” emitting such remarkably relatable insight as “I’m running with the hunted / Trying to break free / From all these things / That tattoo me.”
A true album standout is Pieta’s “Drinkin’ Side” duet with Amos Lee. “Something freeing happens when we sing together,” Pieta says. Pieta and Amos’ first duet "Do You Know?" (from Paradise Outlaw) is a beloved, entrenched part of her catalog; "Drinkin’ Side" is destined to connect in that same earnest way. “River, river of tears…Ain’t got nothin’ on me…” they sing, momentarily soaring together, “Bottled up and gone, lost at sea…A broken melody…” A spellbinding ode to the heartache of the times, Pieta’s words ring true.
The daughter of two preacher’s kids and multiple parental divorces, Pieta’s early yearswere rooted in distinctly unconventional and musical worlds, colored by rural Iowa landscapes and the creative lifestyle of her father, folk-singer Greg Brown. But during formative years in Birmingham, Alabama, she lived with her hard-working single mother and spent “universes alone” writing obsessively and composing instrumental songs on piano. By the time Pieta left home at 17 she had lived in at least 18 different apartments and houses across multiple states. All that early music and commotion now embedded in her artistry permeate the new album.
Throughout Dreamin’ Of Pieta Brown’s songs and delivery take the ethereal spotlight. Unfaltering and reassuring, hers is the voice of an artist unafraid to get close to the source. “As far as I can tell all songs are offerings in some way,” she says. With these new ones, Pieta masterfully leaves room for what any listener brings to them. But the overriding success of her gorgeous new album is its disarming incantation to believe in the power of our dreams.
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