Listen To The Naked And Famous’ Acoustic Version Of “Punching In A Dream”

When artists revisit their old material, they are paying tribute to the ongoing act of creation. They're demonstrating that nothing, even a song as untouchable as The Naked and Famous' 2010 single "Punching In A Dream," is ever really finished. There's always a new spin to take, a new emotion to evoke, a new detail to notice.

Passive Me, Aggressive You's third single, "Punching in a Dream," is the latest to be previewed from the New Zealand band's forthcoming acoustic LP, A Still Heart. Premiering here first, the song we knew, which boasted a marching beat and driving synths, gets stripped back and slowed way down. Alisa Xayalith's vocals are softened here, spun through a chilling Imogen Heap-like vocoder, while Thom Powers' voice glimmers in the background. It's a version that puts the focus on the song's story of breaking free—or inability to do so. The longing to get out of a mess is strong with this one. Gentle until the end, the stripped version swells in the last second before cutting out, like a lightbulb; only this time, there's no flickering—just pure closure. If only waking up from a dream always felt so wonderful. 

A Still Heart drops in March.