Browsing Tag

shoegaze

Under the Sun – Ocean Breeze: an ambient dreamwork of Lynchian cogitation

Posted on 11 January 2023
Ocean Breeze by Under The Sun

Adding a disarming new trajectory to the evolution of shoegaze, the Suffolk-based originator Under the Sun (Matt Catling) constructed an ambient dreamwork of Lynchian cogitation with their three-track release Ocean Breeze.

As hazy as the titular allusion, the opening title single carries the weight of driftwood as it traverses through the meditatively industrial layers of reprising synths and delay-filtered dreamy guitars. Mastered by none other than Simon Scott (Slowdive), Ocean Breeze is a scintillating adaption of the origins of ambient soundscapes, modernised through the essence of caustic 21st-century dystopia that leaks into the transcendence of the track.

The arrestive rhythms in Ocean Breeze are a testament to Under the Sun’s ability to create sonic worlds far more accommodating than the ones we’re physically bound to. Short of taking a trip to the 5th dimension, there’s no better escapism than the sanctity that flows just as mellifluously through the following singles, Whirlwind and Soft Focus.

With Whirlwind unravelling as a tribally psychonautic fever dream and Soft Focus exhibiting Branca-Esque tendencies enveloped by the bleeding lament of the vocals, it’s an evocative conclusion to a release you don’t realise how deeply you have enmeshed with until silence falls.

Stream Ocean Breeze on SoundCloud and Spotify, or purchase the release via Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Bleach Bath – Branches: The Only Sludge Pop Debut You Need To Year This Year

Posted on 20 December 2022

With the rhythm section dripping as much sex appeal as the most aphrodisiacal tracks on the Deftones’ White Pony album, the alt-90s oozing from the droning walls of shoegaze guitars that have been distorted out-of-kilter and the killer sludgy pop hooks, the debut single, Branches, from the Tennessee-based artist, Bleach Bath, is beyond promising.

The tinges of emo to the lyricism, which runs through the insecurities that every girl will have battled with at some age, ensured Bleach Bath came out with all vulnerable guns blazing. It is impossible not to get on a level with the singer-songwriter and band frontwoman who has been tearing up stages across Tennessee, priming herself to make an unforgettable debut.

Any fans of Honeyblood, Wolf Alice, Ex Hex, Hole and My Bloody Valentine won’t want to skip this grungy kaleidoscopic dream of uninhibited angst and relatable uncertainty.

Branches was officially released on December 2nd. Check it out on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Minneapolis Shoegaze Revivalists, Lumari, Look into The ‘Neon Mirror’ in Their Inexplicably Alchemic Latest Single

Posted on 11 November 2022
Lumari

Pull yourself away from your Souvlaki, Loveless and Whirlpool albums and sink into the sublime reverb-drenched alchemy in the Minneapolis Dream Pop powerhouse, Lumari’s latest single, Neon Mirror.

With just a touch more intensity in the droning guitars that cradle the ethereally demure soul in Margo Pearson’s vocals which caress you on a multi-sensory level, Lumari achieved what so few shoegaze revivalists manage in this beguile-some release. They stayed true to the originator’s sound while throwing in plenty of their own post-modern flavour.

With touches of I Wanna Be Adored in the downward spirals of pulsating rhythm, there’s nostalgia to be here for sure; there’s also an unpredictability to the structuring of the inexplicably gripping release that stands testament to their songwriting and instrumental prowess.

Prior to founding Lumari, the founding members, Dave and Dan West could be found in the punk scene, opening for Green Day, NOFX and the Offspring. Once their tastes matured into an affinity for post-modern rock and Britpop, they teamed up with shoegaze lover Robert Caple and producer Eric Olson before completing the outfit with Margo Pearson.

Neon Mirror will officially release on November 11th. Hear it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Honeyyycrush has unvelied her confessional piece of Southern Gothic Slowcore, Belly Empty

Posted on 4 November 2022
https://soundcloud.com/honeyyycrush/belly-empty/s-MuIWNMqXx86?in=honeyyycrush/sets/honeyyycrush-demos/s-5mJz94CLze8&si=c7945eabfed94be686e3c440ea981fc4&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Brooklyn-based Singer-songwriter, Honeyyycrush (Alexandra Antonopoulos) established herself as one of the most underrated artists of her generation with the launch of her hauntingly soul-stirring single, Belly Empty.

The dark Southern Gothic meets alt-pop single entwines shoegazey guitars with ritualistic percussion and, of course, the evocatively efficacious nature of her ephemeral vocal timbre that meanders with the grungy slowcore melodies.

By building Belly Empty into one of the most arresting crescendos I’ve heard in a long time after grippingly raw lyrical confessionalism which features a vulnerable reprise of “you don’t know me like I do”, this progressively beguiling single is one born of understood isolation and sheer innovation. We can’t wait to hear her forthcoming EP, Milk Teeth.

Belly Empty will officially release on November 4th. Check it out on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

I’m Not Alive: straight stitch feels the haunted world bite hard again on HalfLife

Posted on 3 November 2022

Feeling like the fresh path is close after so much recent trauma, straight stitch aim in the right direction and fire hard with a floor-shaking new track to paste all over your shocked speakers called HalfLife.

straight stitch is a grunge, shoegaze, and noise-rock fused band who shreds the airwaves with a powerful sound your whole soul needed to witness.

”They are committed to sonic destruction, all sharing a love for surf-punk in their early teenage years. Now, ages 19, 22, and 21 they hope to combine shoegaze and grunge with the energy of early bandcamp no-wave.” ~ straight stitch

Slashing straight through our eyes and into our deeper conciousness, straight stitch are in no mood to mess around and might cause some loud foot stomping to occur on many sweat-drenched dance floors.

HalfLife from the Austin, Texas-based grungegaze band straight stitch is a heavy-to-the-core track which will evidently soak your awaiting spirit and give it an extra vibration. Turned up to the max and showing us an electric soundscape to truly salivate over, this is a fine effort with that extra underground quality that’s so hard to find easily these days.

Hear this fab new single on Spotify and see more via IG.

Reviewed by Llewelyn Screen

witherbride drops calming soundtrack to help us restore focus on realisation

Posted on 29 October 2022

Ascending higher than previously comprehended before on a cloud-cruising song with so much fascination to sift through, witherbride raises our eyes to where we need to be headed on realisation.

witherbride is a 21-year-old rural NSW, Australia-based experimental solo music producer that makes those ear-soothing gems to swim safely inside.

”My main passion in life is creating music that resonates with people on a deeper level and I do my best to create the kind of sounds that people have never heard before.” ~ witherbride

Adorning us with some aplomb and showing us the value of imagination, witherbride shines brightly on realisation and majestically flies where the shrewd eagles roam the skies above.

realisation from NSW, Australia-based experimental shoegaze/ambient artist witherbride is one of the most unique tracks you’re likely to hear this year. Percolating in mystique and shrouded in so much more than we can imagine at this precise second, we’re all in for such a treat as there is so much to ponder inside this sky-floating daydream.

When you suddenly figure out the map, you’re only headed to long-lost treasures.

Float into a better world on YouTube and see more news on IG.

Reviewed by Llewelyn Screen

Chris Koehn processed grief following the loss of his brother in his ethereal elecro-pop single, Melancholia

Posted on 24 October 2022

Embracing the perpetual promise of change, Chris Koehn composed his most introspective single to date, Melancholia. If there’s any lyric that truly epitomises the proclivity of melancholy while advocating mindfulness, it’s the poignantly rendered line, “It’s only life, everyday we die”, that reprises through this gentle dream pop exposition of ennui.

The atmospheric layering of the male and female vocal harmonies above the swirling electronic synthetics and intense percussion creates a sobering soundtrack for reflection. But the sense of soul that matches the contemporary gravitas of Perfume Genius and Cigarettes After Sex ensures that the ultimate effect is an enlivening one.

Inspired by the death of his brother, Chris Koehn is helping others through their grieving processes while processing his own grief. As someone that has recently experienced the loss of their mother, I can attest to the efficacy of this stunning reminder to live in the moment; while we still have one.

Melancholia is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Belfast’s deafeningly ethereal shoegazers, Virgins, have launched their fever dream of an EP, transmit a little heaven.

Posted on 14 October 2022

October 14th, 2022, was a good day for shoegaze fans with the launch of the debut EP, transmit a little heaven, from the Belfast-based shoegazers Virgins. The up-and-coming trailblazers preach from the Smashing Pumpkins school of riffy ethereal dream pop, with colourful nods to Ride and the swirling choral textures of MBV.

In the title single, the crafters of sonic spectres simultaneously stayed true to the golden era of shoegaze with the signature lush reverb-wrapped walls of guitars and stayed true to their own authenticity through the cuttingly angular synaesthesia-inducing tonal hues that redact any hint of assimilation. The effortlessly outreaching vocals of Rebecca Dow that sting with emotion keep the lexicon clear just above the hazy euphonic guitars from Michael Smyth. The aural chemistry is more than palpable.

Listen to Virgins’ debut EP, released via Blowtorch Records, on Bandcamp & Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Sweetspeak – Light Ruined Dark: A Warped Soundtrack to a Lynchian Fever Dream.

Posted on 12 October 2022

Testing the boundaries of rock n roll, the alt-rock band, Sweetspeak released their 2022 album, Signal Interception #186-Q7. The standout single, Light Ruined Dark, is the first feat of psychedelic experimentalism I’ve heard in a LONG time that isn’t tainted with derivative assimilation.

The distorted psychedelic blues tones would be reminiscent of a remaster of Fleetwood Mac’s Albatross… if the tape was fed through a meatgrinder. Sounding like two singles being played at different speeds simultaneously with bleeding vocals in the vein of Shoegaze artists, Light Ruined Dark really shouldn’t work, but God damn, it does. The immense guitar sound is practically an aphrodisiac.

Light Ruined Dark was officially released on October 5th. Check it out on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

 

Burrow exposed the fear masquerading as perfectionism in his shoegazey indie debut, Spiral

Posted on 9 October 2022

Boorloo/Perth-based musician Drew Kendell has broken away from the hardcore scene to reign melodiously supreme under the moniker Burrow in the indie rock arena. His debut single, Spiral, is an achingly intimate serenade which consumes you with the same sense of soul as The National while playing with shoegaze-y distortion and cutting post-punk tones.

Spiral acts as a grippingly honest and revelationary exposition on the fear that masquerades as perfectionist behaviour. Between the lines and the shimmering reverb, it is a reminder to connect with our inner child and an acknowledgement that being human is a process.

As someone who constantly turns to Slowdive and My Bloody Valentine for catharsis, my shoegaze bar is set pretty high; Spiral still took me to a new plateau of appreciation for the stirringly sweet innovation effortlessly exuded by Burrow.

The official music video for Spiral will officially release on October 7th. Check it out on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast