Browsing Tag

Indie Shoegaze

Rorys Aspect has diversified Manchester’s music scene with his seminal single, Social Anxiety.

Posted on 23 July 2021

Manchester-based alt-indie electropop artist and producer Rorys Aspect has released his arresting EP, Lifesaver, featuring the standout synth-pop track, Social Anxiety, which comes with spacey 80s vibes and the most candid lyricism you will hear this year.

With shoegazey guitars and just as much reverb on the vocals, the raw nature of the lyricism loses some of its sting in the choral trippy tones that are prolific in tracks from Manchester’s greats such as the Stone Roses, the Chameleons and the Charlatans.

The self-produced track is unequivocal proof that Manchester has another revolutionary in its midst. As a fellow Mancunian, it is all too refreshing to hear an indie artist not falling into the process of assimilation.

You can check out Rorys Aspect’s latest EP by heading over to Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Fox Evades – soaring, spacious dreampop with ‘Someday’

Posted on 24 June 2021

Fox Evades is the solo project of Manchester-born singer songwriter and producer Jordan Mae. Following up the success of debut single ‘The Heart That Drowned’ and follow-up ‘Bira’, both of which garnered interest from BBC Introducing’s Hannah Fletcher, comes third single ‘Someday’.

A soaring, spacious three minutes of echoey dream-pop, reminiscent of Desperate Journalist, Belly, Slowdive, or The Cure, ‘Someday’ is deliciously gentle and atmospheric, tangibly breakable and ethereal, with a picked repeating guitar line that could have come straight from Three Imaginary Boys or Seventeen Seconds, and Mae’s haunting, delicate voice evocative of Tanya Donelly or Toni Halliday on vocal duties.

It’s truly excellent, and a beautiful, ephemeral taster for Fox Evades’ debut EP due out later this year. You can hear Someday on Spotify; follow Fox Evades on Facebook and Instagram.

Review by Alex Holmes

Srujanika shines a light on the darkest nights with her indie single, ‘Rise’.

Posted on 8 June 2021

For her latest single, ‘Rise’, which has now been accompanied by a music video shot by Guillaume, up and coming singer-songwriter Srujanika teamed up with producer MILIAH to orchestrate an intricate, intimate feat of indie-pop that doesn’t just lyrically scratch at the surface. It cuts right down to the marrow.

Sometimes, all that is needed is the reminder that no matter how alone you feel on the darkest nights, you’re not alone in your dark transition periods before the light starts to breakthrough. The deeply spiritual release pulls in nuances of shoegaze and dream pop to give the single a sense of fragility; through Srujanika’s vocals, you’ll find comfort along with the inspiration to find the same resilient strength.

Even if you listened to the radio all day, you wouldn’t hear a more compassionate and consoling voice.

You can check out the official video to Rise that premiered on May 15th by heading over to YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Atlanta indie artist Sarah Rae explores the multifaceted nature of love with her new single, ‘Poison Ivy’.

Posted on 7 June 2021
Sarah Rae

With her latest alt-indie single, ‘Poison Ivy’, Sarah Rae explores the contrasting layers of love, melodically shifting between light and dark transitions in the Shoegaze single that will undoubtedly be a hit with fans of Hooverphonic, Portishead and Slowdive.

It is singles like Poison Ivy that remind you that there’s no such thing as a realistic ‘happy’ love song. They’re about as true to life as superficially stretched smiles in social media posts that are aimed to deceive people into believing that your life is a 24/7 soirée of aesthetic euphoria.

Poison Ivy starts with chilling angular notes that feed into the stylish trip hop-style soundscape that allows the vox to find perfect synergy with the reverb-swathed instrumentals as they bleed into them, still allowing the poignancy of the lyrics to haunt the progressively enthralling track that gets better with every listen.

Poison Ivy is due for official release on June 9th; you can check it out for yourselves by heading over to SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Walker Tex delivers mesmerising grunge folk in his latest single, ‘Make Me Smile’

Posted on 3 June 2021

Under the influence of 70s folk and grunge, up and coming artist Walker Tex has made major waves since he started introducing his original material to the airwaves in 2020.

His latest release, and his most popular single to date, Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me), carries all of the soul of a track by Dylan or Cat Stevens and all of the sonic appeal as My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive.

The singer-songwriter carries the same hypnotic magnetism of Cohen with his whiskey-soaked vocals; when blended with alt-90s-inspired tones, Make Me Smile is simultaneously a shot of nostalgia and an introduction to the future of alt-indie folk.

Make Me Smile is now available to stream via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Send Me Giants has made their debut with the driving, despondent alt-rock single, ‘Figure Something Out.

Posted on 27 May 2021

Nashville-born, Chicago-based Musician and producer, Send Me Giants (John Remp) has made his debut with the evocative alt-rock track, ‘Figure Something Out’ which paints a poignant picture of despondence and confusion. If you can’t relate to that, are you even human?

As someone who has invested plenty of their time sinking into reverb-swathed choral indie shoegaze, I can assuredly say that few new artists manage to pull something new out of that tonal ilk, but Figure Something Out, with its math-rock Midwest emo elements, delivers a brand-new angular aural experience as the cutting notes ring across the discordance.

After such a promising and authentic debut, we can’t wait to hear what he has in store for his sophomore single.

Figure Something Out is now available to stream via Spotify.

Connect with Send Me Giants via Facebook and Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Azure Wolf depict internal conflict in their alt-indie single, ‘Chateau’.

Posted on 26 May 2021

Winchester, VA-based ethereal indie rock artist Azure Wolf brought their haunting tones to the airwaves once more with their double a-side release, Chateau / Honey Rush.

Emotion and the potential for honest human connection run at the forefront of Chateau; the delicately angular shoegaze guitars bring an air of fragility and vulnerability to the release while the lyrics find powerful meta ways to relay the complexities of pain. With lyrics such as, “I’d drink that poison just to swallow that pill”, Azure Wolf artfully illustrate how much internal conflict lies in each of us.

Founding member and vocalist Victoria Backle’s vocal timbre effortlessly establishes Azure Wolf as a distinctive artist that wouldn’t be out of place on a lineup with Slowdive, The National, Interpol or Editors. Yet, she leaves you in awe of far more than her vocal range. With every release from Azure Wolf, you get a sense of the bravery it took for each of the members to throw themselves in completely.

Azure Wolf’s latest release is now available to stream via Spotify and Bandcamp.

Connect with Azure Wolf via Facebook and Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Brian Perrone delivers artfully sonic shoegaze in their third single, ‘GOTTA GET AWAY’

Posted on 3 April 2021

After their last single, Be This Way, refused to stop haunting us after we’d heard it, we eagerly delve into Brian Perrone’s latest single GOTTA GET AWAY which captures the claustrophobia of a situation that will cage you if you don’t start to push against the bars.

By starting with reverb-soaked synths, an archetypal feat of pensive 80s pop is teased before choral shoegaze guitars creep into the mix and build momentum in the track that almost becomes theatrical behind the curtain of alchemic genre-melding.

If you can imagine what it would sound like if Freddie Mercury, The Smiths, Muse, Editors and My Bloody Valentine had a stunning lovechild, you’ll get an idea of what to expect when you hit play on GOTTA GET AWAY.

Experiencing any form of intensity is a pleasure in lockdown times, but the sonic smorgasbord of alternative culture is so much more than a reminder that you still have the capacity to feel. It is an affirmation that we have an exceptionally talented artist in our midst who deserves celebrating. The Detroit singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist is obsession-worthy.

GOTTA GET AWAY is now available to stream via SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Mantisgrove want to scare us in the ‘Ghost House’

Posted on 22 March 2021

The work of musician Seth Leininger, from Laramie, Wyoming, ‘Ghost House II’ – from Mantisgrove’s debut album ‘Our World’, is a dream of a track, a mixture of synthpop and mellow, full-band, beauty; chiming guitars, descending bell-like synths, and ethereal, soft vocals. Reminiscent at times of that gentle wave of British indie that included the Inspiral Carpets, the Chameleons, Ride, and the Stone Roses (think ‘She’s a Waterfall’ or ‘I Wanna Be Adored’), ‘Ghost House II’ spirals and twists around a central repeating guitar motif, mixing that indie vibe with psychedelia, surf rock, and chillwave to produce something alluring and fascinating in its winsomeness.

The follow-up to Mantisgrove’s well-received debut EP ‘Noon Blue’, you can check out the delicious ‘Ghost House II’, and the rest of ‘Our World’, on Spotify, and follow Mantsigrove on Facebook and via their website.

Review by Alex Holmes

Brave New Broken Hearts Club follow in the luminary footsteps of the Legendary Pink Dots with ‘Love Is On Its Way’

Posted on 26 January 2021
Brave New Broken Hearts Club

The musical vehicle for London-native singer-songwriter Neil Phillimore, Brave New Broken Hearts Club new single – released on the 29th January, and the first track from the forthcoming new album – is a delicate, melancholy semi-acoustic number; a tremolo-laden picked guitar part sits atop closed hi hats and Phillimore’s unapologetically character-filled vocals. Think of a ‘Country House’ era Damon Albarn, a North London wash delivering a evocative narrative of tainted love and shattered expectations.

It’s a great track, pretty and self-aware at the same time, downbeat without being downtrodden. Phillimore’s Suggs-like delivery perfectly suits the lyrical content, there’s some beautiful harmonies courtesy of Peckham folk singer Pearl Fish, and the repeating guitar motif adds weight throughout the track. Overall, ‘Love Is On Its Way’ is heartfelt, hopeful, and emotive, a perfect introduction to Brace New Broken Hearts Club – with two more singles scheduled before the release of the debut album later this year, it looks as though success, for sure, is on its way.

Love is On Its Way is available to stream from January 29th, you can pre-save the single on Spotify via this link.

Review by Alex Holmes