Danish singer-songwriter Madelleine Müller unveils her poignant new single I Can’t Run When I’m Dreaming – a sparse, atmospheric release that explores the surreal experience of chronic illness, childhood memories and blurred dream states.

Marking the fourth single from her forthcoming debut album Did You Not Know? – out September 5 – the track finds the Denmark-based artist continuing to craft intimate, emotionally rich soundscapes, blending poetic lyricism with haunting minimalism.

Based on the Danish island of Bornholm, Madelleine Müller writes and records music from bed and wheelchair after becoming chronically ill with ME/CFS. Unable to perform live, her songs have become intimate explorations of stillness, grief, memory, and detachment — shaped by the surreal experience of long-term illness.

Her upcoming single is no exception. I Can’t Run When I’m Dreaming traces the blurred boundaries between waking and dream states, sanity and dissociation, body and mind. 

The song’s title references a deeply personal symptom of her illness: “Ever since becoming mostly bedbound, I’ve lost the ability to run – not just in real life, but even in my dreams. I would start the run, in my dream, but immediately remember I’m sick. Then I’d fall down and couldn’t move.”

Musically, the arrangement is sparse and atmospheric. With her brother Jonas Müller on piano and Matthew Adomeit on bowed double bass, the track floats in a suspended sound world — echoing the emotional paralysis woven through the lyrics.

All proceeds from Madelleine’s music this year will go to vital ME/CFS and Long Covid research.

☞ Download Madelleine Müller new single I Can’t Run When I’m Dreaming ☜

Discover more:

https://madelleinemuller.com/