Mo Kenney's "Evening Dream" is a breakup song that plays out like a movie — even when the emotions are painful, the hazy glow of nostalgia softens the hurt, making it go down easy. Against bright acoustic strums, a steady backbeat and the sweet chime of piano and country rock guitar, the Nova Scotia songwriter captures a Polaroid-like portrait of a summer love affair: "You're by the water undressing," they sing on the transcendent bridge. "What will the neighbours say? / I'm watching you from the middle of the lake."
It's a bittersweet sort of breakup — the kind of relationship that, despite it eventually falling apart, it's still possible to feel grateful for it happening.
Kenney's album From Nowhere is out September 6.