Kelsie Kimberlin Turns a “Dream of Peace” into a Vision You Can Feel!
- Esther
- 6 hours ago
- 3 min read
On August, when we last heard from Kelsie Kimberlin in “Infinite Possibilities,” she was stepping out of the cocoon in her reflective, luminous, and learning to fly with her father’s voice steadying her own. Now, with “Dream of Peace,” she’s no longer just finding her wings and she’s using them to carry a message that soars far beyond personal growth. “Infinite Possibilities” was intimate and inward, while “Dream of Peace” is expansive and outward. A cinematic plea for compassion that feels both global and deeply human. It’s the sound of an artist who’s grown from self-discovery into purposeful storytelling, and who’s unafraid to risk beauty in the face of real danger!
The track opens like a cinematic breath with delicate piano and strings unfurling beneath a voice that is at once vulnerable and unshakably steady and what follows is less a conventional pop single than a short film in sound that is very intimate, ceremonious, and morally insistent. The production places you in a spacious, slightly exotic soundscape. Kimberlin’s long, soft vocal runs float above orchestral swells and a choir that slowly gathers weight; the arrangement is patient, allowing the emotion to accrue rather than forcing it. At roughly 1:10 the chorus arrives as simple, declarative lines (“I just want to make peace, I just want to share love…”) and the song’s power is revealed not in lyrical novelty but in sincerity and craft. The orchestral and choral build is designed to put a hand on your chest as it lifts you without ever becoming overwrought. The track sits at an intersection of lush pop and cinematic soundtrack. The piano and string palette occasionally conjures a devotional sweep, while the soft-rock groove that undergirds the middle section keeps the arrangement grounded in contemporary pop. Kimberlin’s control is notable as she negotiates fragile intimacy and widescreen crescendos with the same tonal honesty, letting small ad-libs and choir textures do much of the storytelling.
What turns “Dream of Peace” from a well-produced ballad into something felt and necessary is context. Kimberlin filmed the music video in Kyiv in late August 2025 amid missile and drone attacks, under martial law and the constant interruption of air-raid sirens. That risk is not a marketing footnote but it’s a thread woven into the fabric of the work. The video’s conceit (a post-apocalyptic encounter with a stranded astronaut who, upon being touched, is revealed to be Kimberlin herself, and who wakes to a reborn sunflower-splashed Ukraine) could have tipped into melodrama; instead, thanks to Denys Akulov’s restrained direction and motion-control cinematography, it reads as an act of witness and care. The final frame Kimberlin framed against endless yellow sunflowers and a clear blue sky is quietly devastating as a symbol of hope, yes, but also a document of endurance. The roster behind the song underscores its ambition. Ukrainian composer Yuriy Shepeta and producer Pedro Vengoechea shape the orchestral architecture; vocal production from Larry Friedman frames Kimberlin’s performance; and mixing/mastering by Liam Nolan and Stuart Hawkes give the track a clarity and dynamic range that respect the arrangement’s softest and loudest moments. You can hear the pedigree in how the choir breathes as an instrument, how the strings never overshadow the lyric, and how the climactic swells leave space for tears instead of theatrical excess.
The song favors plainness over poetry as repetitions of “It’s not the way…” and the chorus’s earnest refrains work because they read as communal pleas rather than private musings. There’s a risk in that simplicity (some lines skate close to slogan), but in Kimberlin’s voice the refrains become a chorus for a collective longing rather than an empty rallying cry. The video’s narrative as the rescuer revealed as the rescued, the cyclical return to life, deepens the lyric’s message of peace is both an outward political need and an inward act of becoming. Kimberlin’s decision to shoot in Kyiv during active bombardment, to work with Ukrainian creatives, and to debut the film at the International Peace Concert turns the release into cultural diplomacy as much as art. It’s protest with production values is not merely to be seen, but to be witnessed properly. “Dream of Peace” is a reminder that music can still mean something, that melody can bear witness, and that even amid chaos, hope can sing louder than fear. Play the song and watch the video below, and let yourself feel it as this isn’t just pop, it’s courage set to a score.
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You can check out and follow Kelsie Kimberlin’s artistic journey on her website here - https://kelsiekimberlin.com
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