Neon Dreams

Neon Dreams, a Canadian ensemble, wove the kinetic pulse of electronic dance music together with the immediacy of a live ensemble, drawing textural influences from multiple styles to shape an emotive, movement-oriented strain of pop. The project first surfaced in the early 2010s as a four-piece before unveiling its initial full-length recording, The Last of Us, in 2015; by the close of the decade the lineup had contracted to a duo.

Rooted in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the act originated when three rock-oriented high-school companions—Frank Kadillac on vocals, Matt Gats on guitar, and Adrian Morris on drums—invited electronic-focused DJ Corey LeRue into the fold, thereby constructing a dance-oriented unit capable of delivering its material onstage as a band. Aligning with contemporaries such as the Chainsmokers, Lauv, and Major Lazer, the group issued its earliest single, “Blinders,” ahead of the 2015 EP The Last of Us; the following year brought the To You EP. Among that seven-track collection’s highlights was the Kardinal Offishall collaboration “Marching Bands,” a Canadian success that earned award nominations and secured a Canadian Radio Music Award. Building on that momentum, the band released its third EP, Wolf, Princess & Me, a narrative-driven work centered on an imagined romantic triangle. LeRue soon exited to concentrate on production work and label operations, though he continued contributing offstage; the remaining trio debuted with the 2018 single “Shape of My Mind.” Shortly thereafter Gats departed, leaving the Kadillac-Morris pair to continue with the subsequent releases “Guilty” and “High School Dropout.”