In Conversation with Delaney Bailey: Dreams that feel realer than life.

If listeners have never heard your music before, where should they start?

My favorite body of work I’ve released is my EP What We Leave Behind. It’s my most honest, vulnerable, heavy work. I wrote it about my life in Indiana before I left for Chicago. I love the songwriting on there, but for a glimpse of my current sound, “Nightshade” or “Far Away” are my favorite new releases.

You’ve been part of the Chicago scene for a bit now — who’s making noise that people need to hear?

This House Is Creaking!! They’re my favorite Chicago based band and are opening up for me on my tour this winter. They’re amazing songwriters and producers and some of my very good friends. My favorite song of theirs at the moment is “Elden Ring”.

Which song from Concave do you think will hit the hardest live? (most cathartic to perform on tour)

“Baby Dream” is an incredibly heartbreaking song. It’s about a recurring dream I have about the same little girl. I raise her, she grows up, and then never comes back. I live a whole life in this dream every single time, and when I wake up I long for a daughter that I don’t even have. It’s a gorgeous song and I can’t wait to perform it live.

What would a Concave-scented candle smell like?

The smell of someone else’s house. Remember as a kid when your friend would invite you over for a sleepover and when you’d walk in their front door, you’d be hit with their house smell? They obviously don’t smell it because they live there, but you do, and you wonder what your house smells like. That smell.

Which song on the project would you say is your favorite?

Definitely “How To.” It’s essentially what runs through my head when I remember to be afraid of growing old and forgetting my life and the people around me. It’s a list of commands, things to check off, in order to delay the inevitable. Use your hands, take your vitamins, eat well, move your legs.