Sabrina Carmen is Peacefully, "Dreaming Wide Awake"

The genre-defying artist and singer-songwriter Sabrina Carmen releases a dreamy and ethereal single that allows the listener to lose themselves in a deep state of reflection entitled "Dreaming Wide Awake."

Through her cinematic and moody soundscapes, Sabrina Carmen leaves any listener feeling lifted on cloud nine. With artistic influences like Barbara Streisand, Whitney Houston, and Ella Fitzgerald, Sabrina Carmen and her alluring sounds never fail to send listeners into a freight train of thought through her meaningful and conceptual themes.

Now releasing her passionate and ear-pleasing single, "Dreaming Wide Awake," Sabrina Carmen allows the listener to lose themselves amid her haunting vocals and lush sonics. If there's one thing that Sabrina Carmen wants listeners to take away from this piece, it's that we must never lose sight of our reverie.

Diving into "Dreaming Wide Awake," the song gently opens with Sabrina Carmen's lush vocals and a tender piano melody. As the soothing and delicate background sonics begin to develop, Sabrina Carmen makes her way to the powerful hook while reminding listeners to continue dreaming and reaching for the stars. As Sabrina Carmen's soothing vocal production haunts our speakers with her beautiful harmonies and vocal layering, she makes the experience all the more passionate through her conceptual lyricism.

As she asks if someone will follow her through her many endeavors, Sabrina Carmen continues to serenade us with her brilliant soprano vocals that truly leave us in awe. As she makes her way to the tender outro, the song closes on a heavy note of reflection that lets the listener sit back and dream.

Don't miss out on Sabrina Carmen's haunting single, "Dreaming Wide Awake," now available on all digital streaming platforms.

We adore the tenderness and passion you've delivered within your latest single, "Dreaming Wide Awake." What inspired you to write and release this harmonious piece?

The initial idea for “Dreaming Wide Awake” was birthed during a lyrical brain dump. I try to free-write every morning to keep a creative flow, and just dump whatever is floating around in my brain onto the page - the key is to do this without judgment or criticism. Just flow. Just write. Once in a while, you get lucky and your flow creates magic. The phrase “dreaming wide awake” was neatly tucked into a rather verbose brain dump about moody surrealism and when I shared it with my co-writers, (Rebecca McBride, Rebekah Wilbur, and Jamie Miller), they all said, “That’s the title. That’s the theme.” I also showed them some of the melodic ideas that were swimming around in my head, and those ended up becoming the verse and pre-chorus for the song. In a single evening zoom write, we fleshed out the rest together and the song just sort of spilled out of us. Within a few hours “Dreaming Wide Awake” was complete.

I feel a very strong connection to this song. I’m not sure what it is. I don’t know if it’s because I’ll always be a dreamer and dream themes tend to be some of my favorites to explore creatively, or if it’s because of how seamlessly it came together, or how moody yet epic the song turned out to be, or if it’s a mixture of all of those things. Regardless, it is a piece I am so thrilled to share, and a song I think my fellow dream enthusiasts will enjoy.

What was your collaborative process like with the songwriters on "Dreaming Wide Awake"? How was your experience writing the song over zoom?

It’s so interesting the way the world works nowadays. Technology has the ability to isolate us, yet simultaneously keep us connected. The team and I actually met via an online creative songwriting course we all took during the pandemic, and that was what brought us together. We connect so seamlessly, despite the fact that we have only ever written together via zoom! To this day (with the exception of Rebecca who also lives in Cali), the rest of us are in different time zones, and we have yet to meet in person. It’s so funny to think that you can be in completely different states or even countries from collaborators, but if you have a deep connection, your creativity can be limitless. Writing with Rebecca, Bekah, and Jamie over zoom is as comfortable as writing in the same room with collaborators I’ve known for years. And ironically, it’s all due to technology.

Did you face any challenges when working with the producers on "Dreaming Wide Awake" over zoom? Or was it easy to navigate the song's sonic arrangement via zoom?

The fifth member of our team is our producer, Matt Richert. Matt and Jamie actually go way back, and Jamie was the one who introduced him to the rest of us. Matt is a gem of a guy to work with. He’s not only a ridiculously talented producer but also a classically trained musician. He’s also extremely hard-working and very patient. The difficult thing about working remotely is it can oftentimes lead to numerous revisions. I cut all of the vocals from my home studio in LA and would send Matt all of the raw files (he’s based in Chicago). From there, he would compile/produce send a mix back to the team, we would give notes, sometimes hop on Audiomovers to hear things in realtime and share ideas that way, and from there we would make adjustments - sometimes that involved me re-recording certain parts a different way, adding more layers of background vocals (because this song has a lot of that), and Matt tweaking sounds and the overall production soundscape. With that being said, working remotely has definitely come with its own set of challenges, but it’s worth it when you love the song you’re working on and also your team.

One funny thing that happened during the production process that did set back our timeline a bit - in the middle of working on the bridge of the song (which is a pretty epic part of the piece), Matt’s computer started sparking and blew up. Literally. Apple had to send him a new MAC. I’m convinced it’s because of how fire the track is.

How do songs like "Dreaming Wide Awake" represent you and your artistic brand? How can listeners get to know you better through songs like this?

”Dreaming Wide Awake” is all about escapism, transcendence, the journey of lucid dreaming, and creating magic in your own dream-like reality. These are themes and subject matters that are very important to me both personally and artistically. The dream theme combined with moody minimalistic melodies will key in listeners into what I love the most: cinematic pop vibes and atmospheric soundscapes. Listening to “Dreaming Wide Awake” will also give listeners a sneak peek into my inner-most thoughts; wishes I have for myself, and what I wish for others.

May humans never lose sight of their reverie.

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