Under the name Michellar, San Francisco songwriter Michelle Bond is basically starting a second life in music. After years focused on work, family and visual art, she’s come back to the guitar and started writing like she’s making up for lost time. REVERIE …FROM THEN TILL NOW pulls together those late-night songs with help from producer and co-writer Tobias (Toby) Wilson, turning bedroom sketches into full folk and Americana pieces with guest singers circling around her voice.
“It’s Another Year” opens with the tick of a clock and a small, close guitar part. Bond sings it softly, like an internal check-in more than a big statement. It feels like the quiet moment on New Year’s Eve after everyone has gone home.
“Running Wild,” with Harrison Black, jumps into a more straight-ahead pop-rock lane. His vocal takes the lead, guitars flicker behind him, and the groove steps up halfway through. It sits halfway between radio single and road-trip montage, the kind of song you could drop into a coming-of-age scene without touching much.
On “Intersection,” fronted by Toby Wilson, the kick drum hits hard and steady while a hooky guitar part sits on top. The track eventually pushes into a straighter four-on-the-floor feel, giving it a little country-rock club energy.
“Promise” pulls things back down. Soft piano, a faint bell-like texture and Bond’s voice up close, with strings coming in as a light halo rather than a big swell. It plays like the follow-up chapter to “Intersection,” a quieter answer to an earlier rush.
The middle of the album leans on different voices without breaking the thread. “September” with Helen Walford and “We Both Can Fall” with Gracie Lou keep the folk-pop frame but shift the color, letting Michelle’s writing sit in other people’s mouths. “Never Say Sorry” and “The Letter” feel like the more classic singer-songwriter cuts: narrative, mid-tempo, built on guitar or piano with band touches added where needed.
The title track, “Reverie,” feels like the emotional centre, a slow drift that matches the album name, half memory, half daydream. “Get Me There to Church,” with Walford and Black, pushes toward something more communal, almost like the closing scene of a small indie film where the whole cast finally ends up in the same room. “Conquer All With Love” and “The Star” close things out on the hopeful side, leaning into harmony vocals and that 70s-influenced folk/Americana DNA she grew up on.
As a whole, REVERIE …FROM THEN TILL NOW sounds like someone catching up with an earlier version of themselves and refusing to rush it. The songs are direct, melodic and clearly written by a person who has actually lived the stories she’s singing about.
For sync, “It’s Another Year” is ready for reflective openings or endings in drama and dramedy, especially around time jumps, birthdays or New Year scenes. “Running Wild” and “Intersection” fit road trips, small-town bar sequences, or moments where a character decides to change something and walks out the door. “Promise,” “The Letter,” and “Reverie” suit quieter, emotional scenes, letters being read, hospital visits, or memory montages. The duets like “Get Me There to Church” and “Conquer All With Love” are strong for wedding episodes, family reunions or faith-adjacent stories that need warmth without going full gospel.
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