14. July 2025
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Media Review

Hailey Whitters – The Dream

Florian Buechtingby Florian Buechting

Hailey Whitters - The Dream

Hailey Whitters - The Dream
3.9

Ratings

 3.9/5

Flyctory.com Pros

  • Very different songs
  • Lovely voice
  • Amazing songwriting

Flyctory.com Cons

  • A few weaker tracks
  • No breakthrough song potential

“Just” being very talented in producing good music is not sufficient – you just need the piece of luck, meeting the right people in the right moment. Hailey Whitters is a perfect example for that. Though the reviews of her works are good, there is still a wait for the breakthrough moment. On 28th February 2020, Whitters released her second album, The Dream.

 

Hailey Whitters – About the Artist

Hailey Whitters is originally from Shueyville, Iowa. She lives for ten years in Nashville to become big in the business as a singer-songwriter (one of the tracks of the album is about that), In 2015, she released her debut album Black Sheep, which got very good reviews, but did not leave a significant commercial impact. In 2019, the EP Heartland contained quite a couple of songs which are now on The Dream.

 

Hailey Whitters – The Dream – Track by Track

The album contains twelve tracks. Thereby, the total playing time is 43 minutes.

1. Ten Year Town

The first track about her first years in Nashville is exactly what you could expect of Hailey Whitters: her lovely and clear voice with comparably high vocals, nice storytelling and songwriting. A lovely song about the challenge of managing the breakthrough in a city which is so packed with musical talent.

2. The Days

Instead of counting up the days
I just wanna make ’em count

The Days is much more powerful than the slower Ten Year Town. One of the tracks I knew before the album – definitely a good one!

3. Red Wine & Blue

Red Wine & Blue is so slow, so basic in its melodic elements, so much concentrating on the vocals and the story – it feels like a very classic country music track. I love Whitters voice – this song gives it the perfect stage to present.

4. Dream, Girl

Slow, fast, slow… Faster song in the fourth song. This time, Whitters really has a strong and powerful song. A really nice radio track, good song. I like the songwriting in general for this track, too:

Oh and some get you high
And some leave you low
Make you feel like you can fly
Spin you out of control
Don’t ever lose your shine
Oh, wherever you go
‘Cause you’re someone else’s dream, girl
Yeah you’re someone else’s dream
Someone else’s dream, girl

5. Loose Strings

I had to smile while I reviewed The Dream and reached this fifth song – just because it is a slow one again. However, Loose Strings is quite unique so far, because some of the verses feel like spoken word. Very puristic song, which has a very nice chorus, though.

6. Heartland

Heartland is not as fast as the other “fast” songs so far, but it has a nice presence and power. Another song, which is having definite radio quality.

7. Janice At The Hotel Bar

She believes in face cream at the Walgreens and ruby-red lips
She’d take a vodka over dessert, sugar goes straight to your hips
And she don’t smoke cigarettes ’cause it ain’t lady-like
She’ll cuss like a sailor, she ain’t afraid to fight

She mows her own lawn and talks on her landline
She’s got a granddaughter, still single, can’t say she’s surprised
Eats sardines by the can and berries from a vine
Be careful with the truth, girl, but don’t you ever lie

Though I like the sound of her voice in Janice At The Hotel Bar slightly less than in other arrangements, I just enjoy to listen to the way Whitters tells her stories. Nice song (and also the longest track on the album).

8. Happy People

Happy People feels a bit like a travel back in time to very classic sounds to me. Hailey Whitters really offers a wide spectrum of sounds in her Dream.

9. The Devil Always Made Me Think Twice

Though this song is again putting so much focus on the vocals, the arrangement is very wide this time – and sometimes the strings even feel to make threatening tunes, just fitting to the title of this song. Impressive production, which towards the end has also some nice riffs and solos.

10. All The Cool Girls

The guitar sound of All The Cool Girls reminds me a bit of the elements of the previous song, but the overall arrangement is very different. Nice catching chorus as well. The song felt a bit strange to me at the beginning, but I liked it more and more.

11. The Faker

Very classic and simplistic sound. I have to admit that the arrangement is just a bit too thin to me and that I don’t like his song as much as others on the album. But again, a nice story, which is been told by the artist.

12. Living The Dream

The dream is a paycheck at the end of the week – the album concludes with the song, which I would name the title track. Not too bad, but I like other songs more in The Dream.

 

Hailey Whitters – The Dream – Spotify

Here is the Spotify widget for The Dream:

 

Hailey Whitters – The Dream – My View

Listening to Hailey Whitters’ The Dream just makes me sad in a certain way: this young lady has a lot of talent, I love to listen to her stories – but finally, the Ten Year Town song says so much about her situation – and the situation of many emerging artists, who have to do a long fight – and have a lot of luck – to finally make it big in Nashville. The album is a clear and honest recording with very different elements. I unfortunately do not see the breakthrough song in this collection – but sometimes, it is just about being lucky. Keep my fingers crossed for you, Hailey Whitters!

 

Flyctory.com Country Music Reviews

Here are reviews of all country music albums and EPs I reviewed earlier on the website:

 

Flyctory.com about Country 2 Country

Here are more postings related to the Country 2 Country festivals in the UK, Netherlands, Ireland and Germany:

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