Track of the Day: Sebastian Rydgren – In My Dreams (2025)
Willing to delve into the complexities of love – being in love, self-love, yearning and desire – singer-songwriter Sebastian Rydgren brings upbeat melodies to poignant themes. Previously performing as San Sebastian, the Swedish Rydgren has enticed, intrigued, intoxicated, and won the hearts of listeners over the past year; however, the hypnotic snare of his music began a few years back on the Swedish version of Idols. Today, we take another headfirst dive into his music with the most recent single, ‘In My Dreams’.
Co-written with Molly “Miss Molly” Rosenström and Tobias Kihlman, ‘In My Dreams’ is a song of living in a bubble. From a relationship perspective, it’s the honeymoon phase extended to a desired reality – not wanting anything to ruin the dream, but also understanding it can’t be this way forever. Rydgren explains:
“The song ‘In My Dreams’… is about shutting out the world and staying in a fantasy of the perfect relationship. It’s about how reality tries to intrude, but how you push it away by closing your eyes and refusing to let anyone or anything in that can disrupt your happiness. Deep down, you know that your fantasy won’t last forever, but right now all you want is to close your eyes and stay in your fantasy of a perfect relationship…”
As with his previous single, ‘Imaginary Lover’, Rydgren keeps to the idea of fantastical relationships with the lean of pop music. Produced by Tobias Kihlman – the same Tobias Kihlman who co-penned ‘In My Dreams’ – the new single retains the toe-tapping beat with synth-driven waves of music. The thing is, as much as his signature pop tone breaks through ‘In My Dreams’, there is a fleck of R&B meets soul wistfully breathing in the melody. From breathy vocals to bolder, richer tones, Rydgren’s vocals oscillate between the headiness of a relationship bubble, the acknowledgement of reality, and the constant fluttering between the two states.
With the promise of an upcoming debut EP, including the track ‘In My Dreams’, I am eager to hear what else Rydgren has up his sleeve. Until then, I’m quite content to hit the repeat button on his current catalogue.
Find out more about San Sebastian on his Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Soundcloud and Spotify.
This artist was discovered via Musosoup #sustainablecurator
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