Toronto dream-pop artist ARK IDENTITY (Noah Mroueh) unveils his most expansive work yet with Deluxe Nightmare, a surreal and euphoric six-track EP that captures the tension between chaos and clarity. 

At its centre is the title track, a grungy, distorted, cathartic release that transforms a childhood fear into cinematic sound. Built on live one-take drum and guitar beds, “Deluxe Nightmare” is made complete with shouting section cues in the background – a perfectly imperfect moment that mirrors the unravelling of a nightmare in real time.

“As a child, I had this recurring dream of flying monkeys breaking through the glass of my bedroom window,” Noah shares. “I wanted the title track to sound grungy and distorted and almost claustrophobic at times. I used fuzzy guitars, kept some of the rougher vocal takes, and leaned into repetition so it feels like you’re stuck in a loop or a bad dream that you can’t wake up from.”

The musical palette expands from distorted anthems to more intimate reflections across Deluxe Nightmare’s six tracks. ARK IDENTITY threads dream-pop, psychedelic pop, and alternative rock into something wide-ranging yet connected. The EP closes with its title track, which fades out to the surreal sound of screaming monkeys and their flapping wings, a haunting finale that perfectly captures the spirit of Deluxe Nightmare.

Deluxe Nightmare finds its beauty not by avoiding discomfort, but by diving straight into it. “This EP taught me to stop avoiding things that make me uncomfortable,” Noah elaborates. “A lot of these songs started from anxious thoughts or moments of fear, but instead of shutting them out – I leaned into them. That mindset opened me up creatively.”