Kelly Lee Owens on Dreamstate

When Kelly Lee Owens feels the call to make an album, she picks up a new notebook. The colour of this notebook is the first major decision made. Her fourth album, Dreamstate, is a bubbly dance record designed for moments of shared euphoria. This time, her heart wanted bright green.

The Welsh dance producer and songwriter has had a huge year – supporting Depeche Mode in 75,000-capacity venues, becoming the first signee to George Daniel’s dh2 label, and in an act of fate, playing Charli xcx’s PARTYGIRL night at Amnesia in Ibiza alongside Shygirl and Romy. Of course the colour was BRAT green.

“It had to be this specific colour,” Owens agrees. “The lime green, the brightness pulled me towards it for its hopeful vibe and healing energy.” She thumbs through the pages. “Let me see. The first thing I wrote was, ‘Euphoric exploration, brightness, collaboration, openness...'” You can hear all this in Dreamstate’s warm melodies and anthemic scope. But the next line hints at the record’s intimate side: "'You deserve all the dreams that you keep hidden'.”

By the end of the record’s creation, she had filled three notebooks – a darker one for her ballads, and one in black to tie it together. Beneath the shine is something grittier.

Growing up, Owens was a daydreamer. In school, she was given two certificates by her classmates, one for ‘music lover of the year’ and another for ‘daydreamer of the year’. “If it was supposed to be funny and derogatory, you got the wrong one. I was thrilled. These were genuine achievements.” 

Daydreaming for Owens isn’t just escapism. It’s a way to think beyond the options laid out for you. “I was like, what do you mean we go to school, then we go to university, we get a job, and we die? That's not me... I was always questioning tradition.”

Dreamstate works with big, accessible emotions, but that doesn’t make it less nuanced. While its songs touch on inner belief, Owens is careful not to sell a self-help lifestyle. “I think that dreaming is becoming more of a privilege and a luxury that’s going to be commodified,” she says. “The new luxury is being offline. We are being constantly bombarded by so many things that you don't even know what your own dreams are, because you're being sold other people's dreams. They say that comparison is death. What do we think of Instagram then?”

Before her summer of dreaming, Owens took a moment to remind herself what she wanted. “I found myself having a word with the universe,” she says. “There were so many things that changed all at once. You know when that happens? Those times where you’re like, ‘What the fuck is going on here? I thought I knew where my life was going. Clearly, I don't. So fucking show me’. I was pissed off.” She decided to give herself to music in a way she’d never done before, and to have faith in that process. “I was the walking embodiment of having faith for most of last year.”

Then, all the parts fell into place. Soon, she was touring with The Chemical Brothers and Bicep, both of whom contributed to this project. Still, Dreamstate remains cohesively Kelly. Bringing other voices into her private world took work, even if it was one of the first things she wrote down. “I'm finding a sense of trust in myself that I haven't experienced before,” she says. “When something terrifies me, I should probably go and do it.” Bringing in these “big dogs”, as she calls them, was one of those things.

Dreamstate was made to be shared with others in a live setting. A hectic year of shows performing to larger crowds made Owens more eager and direct when creating that live connection, which isn’t easy if you’re stuck behind the decks. “DJing is very different, because you’re limited to being behind something,” she says. “Having performed with Depeche Mode, I was like, I'm getting on the table, or whatever I can get on to connect and say, ‘I'm here, I'm a human being.’"

Her summer has been peppered with surreal moments, like doing karaoke with Beth Ditto, or getting back to camp at Glastonbury at sunrise after partying with Charli and George. Despite this, a free show she put on with Caribou in a community centre in North Wales remains her highlight. “Bringing something back to Wales, however big or small, is really important,” she says. “Wales is synonymous with music, poetry and expression, and North Wales used to be massive in the 90s for acid raves on mountains and beaches. I wanted to remind people that we see them, they matter and that they can do this. I've never felt love in a room like it.”

Now, she’s getting the first glimmer of a new notebook. “I'm not quite sure what it is, but I recently wore this dark red wine [lipstick] colour. The sensuality of that, maybe that's a vibe?” She pauses, thoughtfully. “But it will come to me.”

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Dreamstate is released on 18 Oct via dh2; Kelly Lee Owens plays SWG3, Glasgow, 8 Nov