Love stories don't need to be grand to be convincing. And as local artist Moise shows in his debut single, neither do love songs. His new one, "Wildflower," starts with a patient bass line; it grows into a slow-burn rock&B song about dropping everything to take a romantic drive.

Moise wrote the song's opening line, "Baby, if we drive fast and don't come back," at the end of a recent summer -- a "reminiscent" and reflective time. It came to him late at night, suiting the music he'd been playing around with. He says, "I wanted to write a love song that felt like a movie and [...] a dream, because those were the thoughts that first came to mind while writing."

In the song, Moise invokes the American Dream, a subject of some current debate: are happiness and prosperity really attainable for every U.S. citizen? Were they ever? He flips the concept, saying he believes, "The ideals of the American Dream are more individually based now than they were, say, 20 years ago." For him, the Dream entails love and the priceless little things, "such as a ride in a red Cadillac while the sun is shining in the middle of nowhere." It's a different concept than the original Dream's big house and excess money -- though he admits those would still be nice.

Moise is an emerging artist: a St. Thomas student who's always lived around St. Paul. He loves rock music and R&B, so it's fitting his song mixes the spirit of each genre into a personal blend; aside from his friend Will Levison's contributions on guitar and drums, Moise recorded most of "Wildflower" in his bedroom using exclusively live instruments. He's planning to drop a longer project this summer.

For now, he hopes that people who listen to his snapshot of a perfect day consider what makes them happy in their own lives.