A Sonic Sanctuary of Healing: Lena Younes’ Debut Album, Ways of the Dreamer, Is Breathtaking

Ways of the Dreamer is the debut album from Lisbon-based singer/songwriter, yoga facilitator, and breathwork practitioner Lena Younes. Now, given the artist's grounding in mindfulness and holistic practices, it should come as little surprise that her sound is delicate and spacious. Even so, the tender and meditative record has taken hold of me in a way that's hard to describe.

A deeply personal nine-track offering that explores everything from healing to motherhood to ancestral connection, Ways of the Dreamer has been a six-year creative endeavour for Lena. Shaped by loss, transformation, and the profound experience of becoming a mother, the utterly stunning collection of tunes holds space for both pain and beauty. A sonic sanctuary, if you will, where personal growth and raw truths are safe to investigate.

Presence is the album's achingly haunting single, and was penned by Lena about a month after her mother's funeral. "My daughter will grow up without her grandmother, just as I did, but she carries her smile, her expressions, her essence," says the musician. "This song is my way of processing that absence and honouring the invisible bonds that transcend time".

From start to finish, Ways of the Dreamer is the kind of debut that stops you in your tracks. A quiet masterpiece.

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