D:Ream

Formed in Manchester in the early 1990s around singer-songwriter Peter Cunnah, originally from Northern Ireland, and musician Al Mackenzie, D:Ream occupies the intersection of British dance-pop, piano house and soul-tinged elements. D:Ream first emerged on the club scene with “U R the Best Thing,” whose remix by Sasha revived their trajectory, and later achieved broader success with “Things Can Only Get Better,” released in 1993 and one of their most recognisable tracks. The project operated with a stable core and a larger live lineup, which notably included Brian Cox on keyboards as a live and session musician before he entered academia. The debut album, D:Ream on Volume 1 (1993), established this blend of pop hooks, house rhythms and dance production strongly marked by the early 1990s, while World (1995) extended the formula in a more pop-soul vein. After a split in the late 1990s, D:Ream reformed in 2008 and resumed recording with In Memory Of... (2011), followed by Open Hearts Open Minds (2021). Since then D:Ream has continued to alternate between new releases and concerts, with a repertoire that links the British club heritage to more melodic songwriting.