Nom De Plume is an eclectic indie band rooted in the United States, bridging the musical threads of Maryland and Wyoming into a single, evolving voice. The group is led by singer-songwriter and guitarist Aris Karabelas, whose lyrical sensitivity forms the emotional core of their sound, and bassist Michael Magee, whose innovative approach to rhythm and tone gives the band its quiet architectural strength. Together, they craft emotionally resonant music that draws confidently from folk, alt-country, Americana, and indie rock, combining grounded storytelling with a willingness to explore progressive textures and layered instrumentation.
Their journey has been one of steady growth rather than sudden fame, a progression shaped by wide-ranging influences, countless writing sessions across state lines, and a constant pursuit of music that speaks to the inner world as much as it does to the ears. Critics have noted their ability to blend emotional depth with sonic experimentation, with outlets like Rolling Stone Argentina praising early singles for their intricate textures, and Certified Bop highlighting the band’s raw emotion and musical prowess. Through every release, Nom De Plume have remained committed to creating open-hearted, immersive soundscapes that invite listeners to find their own meaning within the music’s emotional folds.
On August 14, 2025, Nom De Plume released their third studio album, “Circle The Dream”, a vibrant evolution of their indie rock roots into a sweeping blend of folk rock, Americana, and progressive nuance. Crafted with intention across states, from Maryland’s intimate writing rooms to Wyoming’s open horizons, the album is a deeply emotional journey through longing, resilience, and internal struggle. With acoustic guitars that confess like diaries, violins that soar like memory, and pedal steel that bends time into feeling, “Circle The Dream” is not just a record, it is an invitation: to feel, to think, and to connect. It is the sound of a band coming fully into its own, balancing experimentation with heart, personal honesty with universal resonance, and quiet moments of reflection with crescendos that lift the spirit without ever losing intimacy.
Circle The Dream Album Track List:
Circle The Dream:
The title track “Circle The Dream” from Nom De Plume’s latest album is a masterful composition that encapsulates the band’s core artistic philosophy, balancing intimacy with grandeur, vulnerability with strength. The song opens with a gentle acoustic guitar progression that immediately draws the listener into a reflective state, creating the sense of an intimate confession being whispered into the quiet of night. Soon, the richness of the arrangement begins to unfold: subtle layers of violin weave through the melody, adding a cinematic texture that transforms the song from a personal reflection into a universal meditation on the cyclical nature of life and dreams. This interplay between simplicity and complexity is deliberate, giving the song a dual character, it feels both deeply personal and expansively philosophical, a quality that makes it linger in the listener’s mind long after it ends.
What truly makes “Circle The Dream” stand out is its emotional arc, which is carefully crafted through dynamic shifts in instrumentation and tone. As the song progresses, the acoustic foundation is joined by pedal steel swells, delicate percussion, and harmonic layering that build toward an emotive peak without ever overwhelming the intimacy of the vocals. The lyrics carry a sense of longing and inner conflict, evoking the timeless human struggle of chasing elusive dreams while confronting the weight of reality. The vocal delivery is tender yet assured, perfectly balancing fragility with conviction, and every note feels intentional, designed to guide the listener through moments of melancholy, resilience, and quiet hope. The production is spacious, allowing the instruments to breathe, yet always centered around the warmth of the voice, ensuring that the song’s emotional core remains intact even amidst its expansive textures.
By the time the track reaches its conclusion, “Circle The Dream” feels less like a conventional folk-rock ballad and more like a spiritual meditation set to music. The final moments taper into reflective stillness, leaving the listener with a sense of resolution that feels both earned and necessary. It is a song that thrives on contrasts, minimal yet layered, sorrowful yet hopeful, delicate yet powerful, and this duality is what gives it such lasting resonance. As the title track, it not only defines the emotional DNA of the album but also stands as a statement piece for Nom De Plume’s artistry: a reminder that dreams, even when fleeting or elusive, are worth circling back to, again and again. It’s a track that rewards deep listening, and its beauty lies not only in its instrumentation and lyricism but in the way it makes you feel seen, understood, and part of the endless cycle of human longing and hope.
Fly:
“Fly” from Nom De Plume’s “Circle The Dream” is a track that immediately establishes itself as one of the most haunting and surreal pieces on the album, weaving a delicate balance between vulnerability and experimentation. The song begins with a fragile acoustic framework, but unlike the warmth of some of the album’s other tracks, “Fly” leans into the ethereal. Pedal steel slides drift in and out of the mix like ghostly echoes, bending the melody into something dreamlike and otherworldly. The atmosphere is airy, almost fragile, and the way the acoustic guitar is allowed to breathe creates an open canvas for the rest of the instrumentation to enter. This openness is intentional, it sets the stage for the vocal delivery, which feels less like a performance and more like a whispered reflection caught between waking and dreaming. There is a sense of weightlessness from the very beginning, as if the listener is invited to leave the ground behind and ascend into the song’s otherworldly soundscape.
As “Fly” develops, it becomes clear that this is a track built on contrasts. The vocals, layered with subtle harmonies and faint echoes, expand the emotional depth of the song, pulling the listener deeper into its contemplative atmosphere. Here, Nom De Plume experiments with dissonance in ways that feel organic, certain guitar lines or instrumental flourishes stretch just enough to create tension without ever losing the song’s graceful flow. The pedal steel and violin interplay add a haunting beauty, giving the music an almost cinematic quality, like a soundtrack for drifting through memory or watching dreams dissolve into fragments of reality. Lyrically, the song captures themes of longing, release, and transcendence, wanting to rise above the weight of the world while acknowledging the difficulty of letting go. Each line is delivered with a quiet intensity, and the restrained production ensures that nothing distracts from the central message: the human desire to escape, if only for a moment, into freedom.
The final stretch of “Fly” is where its power fully reveals itself. The instrumentation swells in gentle waves, not in a dramatic explosion, but in carefully controlled surges of sound that mimic the sensation of drifting higher and higher. The layers of pedal steel, strings, and atmospheric textures combine with the tender, echoing vocals to create a sense of suspension, as though time itself has slowed. When the track finally fades, it does not end abruptly but dissolves into silence, leaving behind a lingering aftertaste of melancholy and beauty. What makes “Fly” so remarkable is its ability to evoke both unease and comfort, its use of sound as a vehicle for both grounding and release. It’s a track that doesn’t just play, it envelops, it moves, it transports. In the context of “Circle The Dream”, it is one of the clearest demonstrations of Nom De Plume’s experimental spirit, showing how folk-rooted songwriting can be expanded into a dreamlike, almost spiritual meditation.
Lazy:
“Lazy” from Nom De Plume’s “Circle The Dream” is a refreshing, soul-soothing piece that embodies the beauty of stillness and simplicity within the album’s otherwise emotionally expansive journey. From the very beginning, the track opens with a cozy percussive beats and immediately follows by tender acoustic guitar progression, unhurried and warm, immediately evoking a sense of calm. The vocal delivery follows suit, gentle, conversational, and almost lullaby-like, giving the impression of a personal reflection shared in a moment of quiet reprieve. Unlike the more dramatic or experimental entries on the record, “Lazy” thrives on understatement, allowing minimal instrumentation to create a rich atmosphere of peace. The absence of urgency in both rhythm and melody mirrors the song’s thematic core: a celebration of slowing down, resisting the constant pressures of movement and productivity, and instead finding beauty in the act of simply being.
As the song unfolds, subtle instrumental textures are carefully introduced to enhance the mood without disrupting its tranquility. Light percussion and bass create a soft pulse that grounds the track, while airy flourishes float around the acoustic framework like passing clouds. This balance of structure and spaciousness makes the arrangement feel effortlessly fluid, embodying the “lazy” ease of a summer afternoon or a moment of still reflection by a window. Lyrically, the track emphasizes a quiet kind of resistance: choosing peace over chaos, reflection over reaction. It’s not laziness in the negative sense, but rather a purposeful slowing down, a reclamation of time and inner calm. The way the vocals linger on certain lines, stretching them into the space of the music, further enhances this message, giving the listener the freedom to breathe with the song rather than rush through it.
By its close, “Lazy” leaves the listener wrapped in a sense of restorative serenity. The song doesn’t build toward a climax; instead, it remains grounded in its steady rhythm, tapering off with the same gentleness it began with. This consistency is its greatest strength, making it feel like a musical pause button in the middle of life’s noise. Within the album’s broader narrative, “Lazy” provides a moment of respite, a chance for listeners to absorb the weight of the surrounding tracks while being reminded of the importance of rest, balance, and stillness. It stands out as a track that communicates through subtlety and restraint, proving that Nom De Plume’s artistry isn’t only about grand emotional arcs or experimental textures, but also about capturing the delicate, overlooked beauty of life’s quietest moments. “Lazy” is, in essence, a song that encourages us not to feel guilty for slowing down, but to see the poetry in it, and that is what makes it one of the most quietly profound pieces on “Circle The Dream”.
We’re All Like That:
“We’re All Like That” from Nom De Plume’s “Circle The Dream” is one of those rare songs that captures the human condition with unflinching honesty while still wrapping it in warmth and accessibility. From the opening chords, there’s a rawness in the guitar tone, slightly gritty, slightly unpolished, that sets the stage for the song’s central theme: imperfection as a shared human trait. The vocal delivery feels conversational, almost like a friend opening up across a quiet room, but it carries enough conviction to make the message universal. Lyrically, the song doesn’t shy away from pointing out flaws, doubts, and contradictions, but it does so with compassion rather than judgment. The refrain, circling back to the idea that “we’re all like that,” becomes less of an admission of weakness and more of an anthem of solidarity, reminding listeners that vulnerability and inconsistency are part of what makes us human.
Instrumentally, the track balances folk simplicity with a subtle rock edge. Acoustic guitar remains at the heart of the arrangement, but it’s supported by steady percussion that grounds the song in a forward-moving rhythm. Bass lines hum in the background, warm and unobtrusive, while electric guitar accents add depth and color, especially during the instrumental breaks. The production is intentionally organic, there’s breathing space between each instrument, and nothing feels overproduced or artificially polished. This choice enhances the song’s message, as the natural imperfections of the performance mirror the imperfections described in the lyrics. The chorus swells gently with layered vocals, giving the track a communal feel, as if the singer’s personal reflections suddenly become a collective voice, pulling the listener into its embrace.
By the time the song reaches its close, “We’re All Like That” has achieved something both comforting and thought-provoking. It strips away the illusion of perfection and instead celebrates connection through honesty. The outro doesn’t explode into grandeur; instead, it eases off, leaving behind an atmosphere of quiet reassurance. This restraint makes the song linger in the mind long after it ends, as though the listener is left to sit with the realization that they, too, are part of this imperfect yet beautiful collective. In the context of “Circle The Dream”, it functions as a reminder of the shared threads that bind every human story, tying together the album’s explorations of shadow, light, memory, and renewal. It is a piece that manages to be both humble and profound, and in its modesty, it becomes one of the record’s most powerful statements.
Nom De Plume’s Circle The Dream is a stunning, heartfelt odyssey of dreams, struggle, and renewal, crafted with timeless emotional depth.
“Circle The Dream” stands as a testament to Nom De Plume’s quiet mastery of craft, an album that feels both deliberate and alive, intimate yet expansive, rooted in tradition while unafraid to push boundaries. Every track carries a sense of purpose, not in spectacle, but in emotional clarity; the arrangements breathe, the melodies linger, and the lyrics open spaces where listeners can place their own stories. It is a record best experienced in full, where its shifting moods, from restless longing to tender release, from quiet reflection to communal reassurance, weave together into something greater than the sum of its parts. For longtime fans, it confirms what has been quietly apparent all along: this is a band unafraid to grow without losing its soul. For newcomers, it offers an ideal entry point, immersive, deeply human, and rich with detail that rewards careful listening. Recommended without hesitation for anyone drawn to indie folk, Americana, or thoughtful songwriting, “Circle The Dream” is not just another release in a crowded landscape, but a deeply considered, beautifully rendered work that invites return visits, each listen revealing new textures, new truths, and new reasons to keep circling the dream.
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