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A year ago, Briannah Donolo, p/k/a Rêve, spent her days working at an internationally notorious porn site writing scripts for videos. Because when twenty-something and your music career isn’t popping, the rent is due, the phone’s been disconnected, and the fridge is empty, you gotta pay the bills somehow. It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Growing up in a suburb of Montréal that felt inspired by The Stepford Wives, Briannah spent her early teens dreaming beyond the white picket fences of her hometown. While most of the kids had their sights set on becoming doctors and lawyers, she was preoccupied with the music and art that deeply moved her. From a young age, she learned to cope with trauma by converting negative emotion into art; her piano quickly became her therapist and closest confidant.
Briannah went viral in 2014, when her National Anthem performance at a Montréal Canadiens game sparked headlines across Toronto Sun, Journal de Montréal, and on socials like: “Unknown hot chick melted the fucking ice,” and “The Anthem Singer At B's Vs. Habs Just Became A SUPERSTAR.” The phone rang off the hook. Major labels, agents, sleazy impresarios all called with the same pitch – to transform Briannah into the perfect pop star. But Briannah was far from perfect, and the glass slipper broke before anyone got their fairy tale ending.
Instead, Briannah retreated to her hometown of Montréal, adopted the moniker “Rêve” (French for ‘dream’), embraced her imperfections, and started to map out her path as an artist going through growing pains. Parties and bars (both of which she would attend, then later perform at) centred around dancing and Dance music, sparked an inspiration and quickly, Rêve learned how a club transformed into heaven. As a result, she started writing honest songs with the intention to create the soundscape that lives in her mind: playful, pop, and R&B influenced dance music that draws its inspirations from the heydays of 90s sophisticated Euro sound.
When the global pandemic hit in 2020, Rêve refused to let the state of the world break her stride. Instead, she connected with Montréal-based production duo Banx & Ranx (Dua Lipa, Sia, Little Mix, Sean Paul) who she credits to encouraging her biggest creative turning point to date. Their partnership “signifies labour of love and a testament to what happens when you let go of inhibition and allow your artistry to know no bounds.”
Now based in Toronto, Rêve makes her major-label debut in June 2021 via Universal Music Canada and Astralwerks, releasing the first collaboration with Montréal production duo Banx & Ranx, who co-sign her to UMC via their label 31 East. Yet glamorous, dark and surreal on the exterior, Rêve’s repertoire is profoundly thoughtful and emotional at its core. Coupling thought-provoking lyrics with melodies that will emotionally and physically move her audience, Rêve’s music reminds you to embrace the emotions and parts of yourself that you are taught to perceive as flaws in today’s world. Stay tuned for much more to come from Rêve in 2022.