Lessons Learned: D:Ream

D:Ream’s Peter Cunnah and Al Mackenzie: “You can’t work in a messy environment. Well, we can’t.”

Things Can Only Get Better for your songwriting if you listen to these lessons from Peter Cunnah and Al Mackenzie

More than 30 years on from their breakthrough No 1 hit Things Can Only Get Better, D:Ream remain a band that honours their past while pushing forward. Tracks like U R The Best Thing and Shoot Me With Your Love defined the euphoric sound of the early 90s, and the group, now made up of Peter Cunnah and Al Mackenzie, continue to write and record, most recently on 2025’s Do It Anyway.

That blend of nostalgia and fresh creativity gives fans the best of both worlds: the joy of the classics alongside new, vibrant material. As they prepare for headline shows in London and Leeds, the duo reflect on the lessons their career has offered, from keeping the studio tidy to embracing playfulness in the creative process, and how those principles continue to shape their music today…

How we wrote ‘Things Can Only Get Better’ by D:Ream

1. KEEP IT TIDY

Get the studio tidy. For periods during the recording of the last album, Al had to sleep in the studio as there were family staying in the main house. You can’t work in a messy environment. Well, we can’t. That goes for any job, really. It’s distracting. You’re constantly thinking about it. We can but indulge in the messy process of play when the playpen is in good order. We ‘play’ music and get creative by tapping into the fun, the core of a childlike state, losing our creative inhibitions.

2. USE YOUR VOICE

As Peter is the lead singer in D:Ream, it’s easy for us to write for his voice in his key. Everyone is different, obviously. If you’re lucky enough to have an amazing range, then all power to you. However, that is not to mean that we would restrict ourselves to writing in a style that we are ‘known’ for.

It’s often worth getting in touch with your inner country artist or rock ‘n’ roller! We have always said we don’t like to be pigeon-holed re: our sound/style, which makes it easier, of course. If we feel like we want to do a neo-soul-type tune, we will. That’s how Tell Me To My Face on the latest album came about.

D:Ream’s Al Mackenzie and Peter Cunnah: “Know when it just isn’t working and let it go.”

3. DON’T FORCE IT

If it’s not happening, don’t force it. Take a break, have a walk, shoot some pool or anything that can clear your head. Get some fresh air. All that EMF in the studio is not good for us and sometimes leaves us gasping for air. Our studio in Ireland can get a bit stuffy sometimes, but we’re right by the beach/sea, so it is lovely to be able to go for a walk in the bracing Irish weather to reinvigorate us. It’s also worth sleeping on it or leaving it for the day. Forcing it is exactly that – trying to squeeze a square peg into a round hole. It’s going to leave some splinters.

4. EVERYTHING IS EXPENDABLE

It is a waste of energy to be precious and overprotective. Try going in different directions from your initial idea. Be prepared to drop what you’ve got, regardless of how good a line or two you think you have and don’t be too precious about it. You can always use them again on something else. Sometimes your partner has ideas that just work better than what you have for that particular work.

Also, know when it just isn’t working and let it go. You have to move on, or you’ll never finish anything. We wrote a load of stuff for Do It Anyway, which is sitting on the hard drive and didn’t make the cut. A few we will go back to, and some will never see the light of day.

5. BE PLAYFUL

Remember Tutti Frutti, The Spice Girls singing, “zig-ah-zig ah” (‘I’d rather not,’ says Al), Pearly-Dewdrops’ Drops, etc, etc. Nonsensical lyric hooks open a window to something primal in music. Sound before meaning. Mouth-feel over metaphor. Like tapping into your inner child and feeling that innocent glee of just letting the voice enjoy itself.

On Famous For Nothing, Peter had the line, “Fluffy lovey dovey, air kiss dainty things” and wanted “Schmoozy Boozy” in there. They sound great and do work, in our minds anyway, in the context of the song, but they are rather silly. And silly is good. We are very silly.

As well as their festival dates and ‘90s Reloaded shows, D:Ream will be headlining London’s Bush Hall on 28 May and Leeds’ Brudenell Social Club on 29 May. Tickets are available at thegigcartel.com

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