One of my favorite bands for learning Romanian is Carla’s Dreams. I listen to a lot of pop music because the lyrics are repetitive – and while that helps me learn the language, I also get really bored with the bubble gum superficiality of the songs. Enter Carla’s Dreams. The band was formed in Moldova and the perform “in disguise” with face paint, hoodies, and sunglasses. The lead singer has a very distinct voice; it’s very low and he uses just enough vocal fry.

I’ve posted some of their songs here before (Aripile and Sub Piela Mea) because I love the flow of the melodies and the beat of the words (sorry, that’s as technical as it’s going to get, lol). The best thing about Carla’s Dreams is that many of the songs hover between pop music and spoken word poetry. In this song, you get depth and melancholy in the lyrics along with a catchy beat, the best of both worlds:

I appreciate the homage to traditional music woven subtly in the beats in Suna-ma and Ratusca:

Here is a song in English (which oddly enough, I don’t like nearly as much as the songs in Romanian – he just sounds like the guy from Creed in this one):

In Russian:

and then there’s songs that are just for fun – this song in particular was very popular last summer. I think I’ve heard it a million times, but I only recently looked up the lyrics.:

Speaking of bands and artists that sing in Romanian, I would love any suggestions for music. Who should I be listening to? Bonus points if it’s vaguely easy to understand the words 🙂

…and does anyone know where I can see this band live? I know they just had a concert, but I’m hoping they’ll perform more this summer.