Smallpools—composed of vocalist Sean Scanlon, guitarist Mike Kamerman, drummer Beau Kuther, and then-bassist Joe Intile—first formed in 2012 in Los Angeles.

Manager Greg Federspiel's dog, Jax, graces the cover art of the "Dreaming" single; it was a random photo Scanlon had taken on his phone and decided to use for it.

[2] The band's songwriting process at the time began with an idea of a melody or guitar lick played over a common chord progression; from there, the quartet would "jam it out" for hours in their rehearsal space.

Scanlon continues to repeat various activities-playing beer pong, socializing, playing with his band-with every attempt to escape, resulting in him snapping back into the loop.

Eventually, he begins to notice a young woman with a pixie cut and follows her into the backyard pool, before coming up for air and finally breaking the loop.

[4] "Dreaming" debuted on May 16, 2013 on the blog of label Neon Gold Records,[5] which also handled single releases from Passion Pit and Sir Sly.

Allmusic reviewer Matt Collar praised "Scanlon's soaring tenor vocals," as well as "the group's potent combination of shimmering Dayglo synths, crisp guitar licks, and propulsive dancefloor beats.

[3] Chris Payne at Billboard wrote that "Smallpools' opening statement sounds like it was written to be one of alternative radio's songs of the summer, with its exuberant, helium-voiced Passion Pit vocal riffage; sparkling, hi-fi production; and young-and-invincible 'tude.