Excerpt: “This album is probably the most heartbreaking set of songs I’ve heard since Bon Iver’s For Emma Forever Ago, or I Am A Bird Now by Antony And The Johnsons. It’s Brian Eno meets a dagger to the heart. Antonymes is Ian M. Hazeldine who currently resides in Wales. The Licence To Interpret Dreams is his first full length on Hidden Shoal Records, a label that continues to put out some of the most important records by today’s up and coming, relevant artists. Like Maps did back in 2007 with We Can Create, Hazeldine is a one man band who has made a record that deserves album of the year, even four months into 2011.
From the first tap on the piano key 35 seconds into “A Fragile Acceptance”, Hazeldine’s melodies slowly drip from his fingers. The track elevates almost halfway through with a barrage of cello and your mind instantly shoots through every catastrophe and tragedy your brain can conceive. The track goes behind any surface level ambience and delves deeper to touch on the inner darkness of the soul.
This holds true for the remainder of the album. What Hazeldine has tapped into on The License To Interpret Dreams supersedes normal human comprehension…. Seasons are captured, along with childhood memories, loved ones, and death. This is Eno’s Apollo: Atmospheres And Soundtracks but with heart. I dare you to listen to The License To Interpret Dreams in one sitting. I still find it difficult even after a week. This is an album that requires a slow progression, like reading Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche. You have to put it down after a paragraph to fully comprehend what you’ve just read, or in this case, what you’ve just listened to. Hidden Shoal and Antonymes have come together to bring us an album so moving that I myself am at a loss for words. The License To Interpret Dreams has a way of transcending beyond words and categorisation. It’s best to leave it open for your own interpretation”