Interview: Singer-Songwriter Ren Liu Captures Hearts with ‘Sweet Dreamland’

By SHARON JENNINGS

Singer-songwriter Ren Liu has released the gorgeous track and accompanying video “Sweet Dreamland” off her debut EP Prayer For a Stranger.

The EP Prayer For a Stranger is a moving collection of tracks that inspire hopeful introspection and give the listener optimism for the future.

The video for “Sweet Dreamland” is sweeping in its simplicity and light tone, but there is some serious soul-searching going on below the surface Liu says in an interview with Groundsounds.

Ren was born in Urbana, Illinois, the daughter of parents who immigrated from China. For Ren and many others, America is a “Sweet Dreamland,” where musicians and artists can live their lives creating inspiring and beautiful songs.

“Sweet Dreamland” is among the tracks on the EP. The other tracks on the impactful record are “Endless,” “Take My Hand” and the title track “Prayer For a Stranger.”

Ren Liu sat down with music journalist Sharon Jennings for a Q and A.

Q: What does “Sweet Dreamland” mean to you?

Ren Liu: My “Sweet Dreamland” is an escape from reality. It is a place in my head where I can indulge in any fantasy, be with any person at any time, without judgment or consequence. I think it is a place of nostalgia and also manifestation. It is dream world where you can forget whatever damage that lives in reality in order to be with the person you love in the most pure way, devoid of pain and betrayal.

Q: What inspired “Sweet Dreamland?”

Ren Liu: I think we all have someone in our lives that has a “if only” attached to them. If only this one thing never happened, if only this part of them was different, if only the time was right. I wrote this song when I was deep in quarantine and overwhelmed with a deep yearning for my exes. A place that I think a lot of people’s minds go in moments of loneliness. Whenever I go there, judgement immediately follows because I beat myself up for having any feelings for people who have hurt me so much. I wanted to be able to miss someone and be with them again only in my mind, free of that judgement… and “Sweet Dreamland” happened.

Q: What is your process for songwriting? Do the lyrics come to you first or do you have the music first?

Ren Liu: I guess lyrics usually come first for me; I always have the deepest feelings in the middle of the night which usually are jotted down as random verses or poems. A lot of the time I think I am a genius at 4AM and then wake up later to some of the cheesiest, most eye-rolling lyrics. But if I like something I wrote, I usually go to the piano/guitar to put music to it later on when I’m in my feelings again.

Q: What is your background in music?

Ren Liu: I grew up playing exclusively classical music. I started piano when I was five and violin when I was seven. I actually never wrote anything prior to going to a rehab center in 2018. Playing guitar and singing (for other people) is a very new and uncomfortable experience for me, just because I feel so vulnerable and naked still.

Q: Do you think it is going to be a new world for musicians and how can musicians make money today?

Ren Liu: You’re asking the wrong person because I am not exactly making money right now… It is a new and uncertain world for musicians absolutely. All of my friends who are in performance have had to make adjustments, press pause, reevaluate their plans. Thankfully, we are still able to record and write virtually. I think that this time has made room for a lot of cool collaborations that would not have happened otherwise. People need to get creative with how to be creative now. For me as I’m sure for many others, this time granted to us has become a blessing in disguise in terms of coming back to music and deeper intimacy.

Q: Who are your inspirations?

Ren Liu: I have always been the biggest fan of Joni Mitchell, Frank Ocean, FKA Twigs, and Kacey Musgraves. Currently, I am in awe of Jhene Aiko and H.E.R. and basically following their every move. I love musicians who write and perform from a raw place and I think all of those artists are masters of presenting authenticity and rawness in a really effortless way.

Follow Ren Liu on Instagram and YouTube 

Check out “Sweet Dreamland” here:

Photographer credits:
Album artwork: Mack Breeden
‘Endless’ single artwork: Forrest Leo
‘Sweet Dreamland’ filmed, directed and edited by Brian M Tang
Graphic design for album cover: Rachel Mathieu

Instrumentalists:
Producer: Daniel Blanck, guitar
Orchestration/Strings: Kenny Regan
Cello: Evgeny Tonkha
Vocals, singer-songwriter