Do Not Dare To Dream - 2026 US Merge Records Opaque Orange Vinyl 10-track LP

Teenage Fanclub’s Do Not Dare To Dream takes its name from Norman Blake’s “I Do Not Dare To Dream,” an infectious anthemic song driven by ringing acoustic guitars, joined at the end by duelling electric guitars that wrap around each other like a reassuring hug. Blake says that the title is meant to mock those memes that urge people to “dare to dream,” which to him are “kind of ridiculous… I don’t think the world works that way.”

Teenage Fanclub’s 13th album is full of songs that are calmly resolute, taking stock of the fraught state of the world without succumbing to despair. Blake’s warm, organ washed midtempo ballad “Day In The Sun” and Raymond McGinley’s “Over And Over” both speak to how everyone can find a renewed sense of purpose by opening their hearts. “We can still be cheerful and optimistic in the face of things not being great,” McGinley says. “My parents’ generation lived in Glasgow when there were bombs falling out of the sky. And here we are, however many years later. Things change.” Blake and McGinley are joined on Do Not Dare To Dream by their bandmates Euros Childs (keyboards and vocals), Francis Macdonald (drums) and David McGowan (bass). This quintet has played together long enough now that neither of Teenage Fanclub’s principal songwriters and guitarists feel the need to fuss over their songs or work up arrangements before they enter the studio. They’d rather wait for the rest of the group’s input.

Tracklisting.

Side 1.
1. There Was You
2. Tomorrow People
3. Over And Over
4. Be With You Tonight
5. The Same Air

Side 2.
1. I Do Not Dare To Dream
2. Take Time
3. Day In The Sun
4. Somewhere To Land
5. Young And Wise