Category: Shoegaze

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Portland, Maine’s Crystal Canyon Shares Slow-Burning and Shimmering “Sierra”

Founded by Detroit-born Lynda Mandolyn (vocals, guitar), who spent her formative years fronting the all-female punk outfit Inside Out; and The Baltic Sea’s Todd Hutchinsen (guitar, engineering) back in 2015, Portland, ME-based shoegazers Crystal Canyon were formed with a simple mission: to call upon the spirit and vibe of the tradition of late 80s and 90s shoegaze without rehashing the formulaic gestures or strictures of the genre. The band also features a collection of Northeast indie scene veterans, including Hutchisen’s The Baltic Sea bandmate Jeremy Smith (bass).

The Portland shoegazer’s third album, the recently released nine-song, Stars and Distant Light was recorded at Hutchisen’s Acadia Recording Company studio — and features the band’s newest member, multi-instrumentalist Nate Manning, who primarily contributes drums, along with guitar and other instrumental work throughout the album’s material. The album’s more explosive moments, as the band explains is a direct result of the fresh perspective to their sound that he brought to the sessions.

Sonically, Stars and Distant Light sees the band being true to the classic shoegazer stereotype of being obsessive about their gear, with the album featuring sounds that could only be produced following the trial and error of dozens of guitar tracked meticulously onto analog tape. Overall, the album sees the band’s members taking all of their combined professional experiences to craft material that fuses their previous experiences and influences in a way that sounds unlike anything any individual member has done before. “We formed a band that sounded like the music we listened to,” says Mandolyn. “In the process, we’ve become a band we’d want others to hear.”

The band’s Hutchisen explains, “We started out demoing about sixteen or seventeen songs then finally narrowed down the songs to the nine that are on the record,” while citing the inclusion of more synth and keyboards being not just one point of departure from their previous releases, but a refinement of their established commitment to lush soundscapes.

Stars and Distant Light‘s latest single “Sierra” is a slow-burning, Souvlaki-era Slowdive-meets-Twin Peaks-like bit of dream pop built around shimmering and swirling guitar textures, thunderous drumming paired with Mandolyn’s dreamy delivery and big, swooning choruses. The song sees the band managing to balance cathartic release with restraint, which is important for a band that has a penchant for being loud.

The band notes that the song is a tribute to the late Julee Cruise, who was best known for her work with composer Angelo Badalamaenti and director David Lynch in the late 1980s — especially on Twin Peaks.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Led by songwriter and producer Aaro Seppänen, emerging Helsinki-based indie outfit Favourite Colours has quickly developed a unique sound featuring reverb-drenched guitars, lush synths, catchy melodies that draws from ’80s and ’90s dream pop and shoegaze, as well as punk and hip-hop while being rooted in strong emotions, ranging from bittersweet melancholy to heavenly euphoria.

Favourite Colours’ full-length debut, Summer ’13 was released last Friday. The hazy and nostalgia-including album features three previously released singles “Better,” “Through the Night” and “Remember That Day.” The album’s fourth and latest single “Play It Loud” is a brooding yet gorgeous song built around atmospheric and twinkling synths, reverb-drenched shoegazer guitar textures, enormous and rousingly anthemic hooks paired with a plaintive and yearning vocal. Sonically, the song seems to nod at A Storm in Heaven-era Verve, Love Is Here-era Starsailor — with clear nods to Brit Pop.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Antwerp’s Newmoon Shares Shimmering And Atmospheric “Fading Phase”

With the release of 2014’s Invitation to Hold EP, 2016’s Space and 2019’s Nothing Hurts Forever, Antwerp-based shoegazer outfit Newmoon have established a sound and approach that meshes elements of shoegaze, post-punk and alternative rock with dreamy melodies and atmospheric soundscapes paired with emotive lyrics.

The Belgian shoegazer outfit’s third album Temporary Light is slated for a March 22, 2024 release through PIAS Recordings across the European Union and Manifesto Entertainment, a new imprint of Quiet Panic, across the US. Temporary Light reportedly marks the next step in the band’s musical evolution, showcasing their growth as a band and musicians — and their dedication to creating transformative music. Sonically speaking, the album sees the Belgian outfit returning to their roots to embrace an abrasive yet ethereal sound — but with a fresh approach. The band’s new drummer Conor Dawson enriches the band’s signature penchant for grand yet delicate melodies with rhythmic finesse, adding a layer of depth and musicality to the album’s material.

“Thick layers of guitars always felt natural to us, and are kind of our main thing. We wanted to explore some ideas that have been in the back of our mind ever since we started this band,” Newmoon’s Bert Cannaerts explains. “As soon as we let go of trying to write a specific type of album, the songs grew organically and everything just clicked.”

Temporary Light‘s first single is the slow-burning and brooding “Fading Phase.” Built around thunderous drumming and swirling layers of shimmering and painterly guitar textures around the verses, a stormy and towering feedback and reverb-drenched solo paired with dreamily plaintive vocals, “Fading Phase” channels Souvlaki-era Slowdive and A Storm in Heaven-era The Verve and feels as comforting as pulling a warm blanket over you on a chilly night.

“While writing this album Bert got a new guitar. It was an older Rickebacker from the 90’s with loads of wear and tear on it already,” the band says of the new single. “Definitely a guitar that had been loved by an older guitar player before he got it. The main riff of “Fading Phase” was the first thing he wrote on that guitar and after that the whole song just kind of wrote itself. Definitely one of those moments where everything just falls into place.”

The accompanying video follows the members of the Belgian shoegazer outfit getting together for a night out in Antwerp, bar and club hopping, then stop at a house party before heading home, bleary eyed.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: JOVM Mainstay SANDS Shares Shimmering and Wistful “Horizon”

London-based singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist Andrew Sands is the creative mastermind behind the rising JOVM mainstay shoegaze project SANDS. Influenced by Neil Young, David Bowie, The Smiths, David Lynch, Talk Talk, Echo and the Bunnymen and a long list of others, Sands’ own music sees him seamlessly blending rock, psych rock and elements of pop. 

Since starting the project back in 2017, the London-based artist has released a handful of EPs and singles, including 2017’s S/T EP and “Let’s Run”/”Echoes,” 2018’s Waves Calling EP and “Tomorrow’s Gone”/”Burning Man” and 2019’s Nothing Can Go Wrong EP.

Sands’ highly-anticipated full-length debut The World’s So Cruel was released last Friday. And in the lead up to the album’s release, I wrote about three of its previously released singles:

Written and produced at several London studio locations. including Hackney, South Bermondsey and his apartment, the album’s first single, the high energy “Transmission” featured glistening synths, buzzing guitar riffs, a relentlessly propulsive rhythm, a rousingly anthemic series of hooks and choruses paired with Sands’ plaintive delivery and managed to bring The Stone Roses and the Madchester sound to mind — but with a subtly modern take.

“Transmission” is inspired by the busy and eclectic Northeast London neighborhood that Sands once lived in. The lyrics capture the restless energy and activity of the neighborhood in a way that feels very familiar to me as a native New Yorker. And it does so in a way that feels a bit like a contented sigh of being home, and of awe of everything going on around you.

Built around reverb-drenched guitars, skittering and swaggering boom bap-like drum patterns, along with a glitchy bridge and a scorching guitar solo, The World’s So Cruel‘s second single “When It Starts to Rain” is a slick Stone Roses-like vehicle for the London-based artist’s plaintive vocal and his penchant for crafting remarkably catchy hooks and choruses. The track sonically evokes the sense of daydreaming your way through busy, crowded streets, completely immersed in your thoughts and memories, as though you were in a hallucinatory fever dream of the present and your nostalgia.

“Through This Avenue/The Game,” a road trip anthem built around shimmering and hypnotic guitar work, delicate cymbal-driven percussion, bursts of soaring keys, twinkling organ and the London-based artist’s yearning and vulnerable delivery paired with rousingly anthemic, sing-along friendly choruses. 

“‘Through This Avenue /The Game’ is a tribute to 13th Floor Elevators and Roky Erikson. I love his music, voice and the look in his eyes. Fierce and vulnerable at the same time, which I hope can be two traits to describe this track too,” Sands explains. “As in Transmission it draws inspiration from life in that London neighbourhood, but more in a nocturnal setting to the whole picture, like being the soundtrack to that.”

The World’s So Cruel’s fourth and latest single “Horizon” is a slow-burning and meditative track built around shimmering acoustic guitar, soaring synths paired with Sands’ seemingly innate ability to craft a rousingly anthemic, enormous hook and his plaintive vocal. At its heart, “Horizon” is an achingly wistful song that feels chilly and autumnal.

“It’s inspired by the seaside and all it triggers to the senses, the empowering blue all around you,” the London-based artist explains. “Even just the thought of lying in a bed somewhere. I wasn’t sure how it would have come out, as except from the song itself and the outro guitar I hadn’t written any part, so a lot came out in the studio when doing it. To me this gives it spontaneity and makes it sound fresh.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Phoenix’s MRCH Shares Anthemic “Wild”

Phoenix-based shoegazer outfit MRCH (pronounced as March) — Mickey and Jess Pangburn — can trace their origins to when the duo met at a music store. Their backgrounds at the time were polar opposites: Mickey was a singer/songwriter and Jesse was a prog metal musician. But their differences became a strength — not only in regards to their genre backgrounds, but also their personalities: Mickey longed to make an emotional connection while Jesse loved to experiment with new sounds. 

The pair studied jazz in Phoenix before shared influences like Cocteau Twins, New Order, Metric, Phantogram, St. Vincent, Purity Ring, and Beach House led to the creation of MRCH. 

Their latest EP, the recently released TV Bliss is the follow-up to 2020’s No-Holds-Barred EP. The new EP represents a bold new era for the Phoenix-based duo: They delved much deeper into collaboration, first developing demos with the help of Jimmy Eat World‘s Jim Adkins. They also enlisted the assistance of Grammy-nominated producer Tony Hoffer and mastering by Dave Cooley. 

The EP’s lyrical themes and visual aesthetic were inspired by Mickey Pangburn’s childhood memories of being lost in the escapism of television. Fittingly, the band has had songs appear in a number of TV shows including Shameless, Guilt, The Vampire Diaries, Famous in Love, Search Party, 13 Reasons Why, and The Twilight Zone. 

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about EP single “Cherry Painted Eyes,” a dreamy bit of shoegaze that brings back memories of 120 Minutes with the song being built around glistening synth arpeggios, Mickey Pangburn’s yearning delivery, buzzing guitars, thunderous drumming and rousingly anthemic, shout-along worthy choruses. But as the band explains, the upbeat nature of the song is actually deceptive. 

“‘Cherry Painted Eyes’ is a song riddled with anxiety. Describing a series of panic attacks and bloodshot eyes . . .,” the band explains. “We wanted to make the video a little more lighthearted than that thought. Set in the void of space, complete with near hit from a passing comet, and a drink to take the edge off. This vid is a DIY playful nod to classics from The Cure and Smashing Pumpkins.”

TV Bliss’ latest single, the swooning “Wild” immediately channels Mellon Collie and The Infinite Sadness-era Smashing Pumpkins with Mickey Pangburn’s ethereal falsetto floating over a dreamy yet dramatic arrangement featuring painterly shoegazer textures paired with thunderous drumming and enormous hooks and choruses. Thematically, the song is about taking chances and being adventurous. As the band says of the song: “Life’s short. Do the thing.”

Directed by the band’s Mickey Pangburn and shot by Frank Thomas in Arcosanti, AZ, the video follows the duo through some eye-catching futuristic architecture on a glorious sunny day. According to the band, the video encapsulates the sentiment at the core of the song: “Growing up in the middle of the Arizona desert, Arcosanti is a well known artist community. Kind of Star Warsian. We wanted to feature something uniquely home state with a futuristic element cause we’re looking forward… maybe even allowing ourselves to be excited about what’s next ~ which is really what ‘Wild’ is about. Taking a chance on an adventure.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Florence-based shoegazers We Melt Chocolate can trace their origins back to the fusion of two different bands evanicetrip and Shades of Blue back in 2012. Since then, the Italian band over a handful of releases that includes a self-released demo, and an EP and their full-length debut through Annibale Records has firmly cemented a sound and approach that equally draws from the noisier side of shoegaze — i.e.,  My Bloody Valentine, Lush, and even The Sugarcubes. 

The band has opened for a number of internationally renowned bands including The Shivas, Holy Wave, The Asteroid No. 4, The Underground Youth, His Clancyness, Magic Shoppe, Your 33 Black Angels and GIFT among a growing list of others.

Holy Gaze, the Florence-based outfit’s highly anticipated and long awaited sophomore album is slated for a fall release through Miracle Waves and features guest spots from Francesco D’Elia, Rev Rev Rev‘s Sebastian Lugli and Sensitive Club‘s Ben Moro.

Earlier this year, I wrote about album single “No Meaning Man,” a song that alternates between dreamy and stormy passages built around a relentless motorik groove, layers of distorted and fuzzy guitar textures, shimmering synths, thunderous drumming paired with reverb-soaked vocals buried within the oceanic mix. Thematically, the song speaks of disillusionment with superficial people, who base their entire lives on appearances and conceal their vapidity and lack of empathy towards others.

“Holy Ramen,” Holy Gaze‘s latest single showcases the Italian outfit at their dreamiest to date — with the song featuring swirling Slowdive and A Storm in Heaven-like guitar textures paired with a driving rhythm section and yearning, ethereal vocals.

The band explains that “Holy Ramen” is an exhortation to overcome daily difficulties, look at the sky and allow yourself a special, sacred moment just for you. “For us (particularly for the singer), one of these moments is indulging in a good hot ramen.” The band goes on to say that for them, “it is the simplest moments that become sacred.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Toronto’s SWiiMS Shares Fuzzy and Swooning “All I Die For”

Toronto-based indie outfit SWiiMS — founding duo Mai Diaz Langou (vocals)and Colin Thompson (guitar) along with Cian O’Ruanaidh (bass) — can trace their origins back to 2018 when the band’s founding duo began writing songs together that blended Thompson’s fuzzy and jangling guitar swirl with Diaz Langou’s textured melodies and languid vocal. When O’Ruanaidh joined the band, he brought a unique blend of influences and hooky bass lines.

Sonically, the Canadian trio draw from a diverse spectrum of artists and elements including 80s New Wave, 90s Shoegaze, indie rock, Brit Pop and Dream Pop to create a sound that’s uniquely theirs.

SWiiMS’ debut EP, 2019’s Through Waves was released to critical praise and landed on the North American College and Community College (NACC) charts. Building upon a growing profile, the trio’s full-length debut, Into The Blue Night is slated for a November 10, 2023 release through Mint 400 Records.

Into The Blue Night‘s latest single, the swooning “All I Die For” sees the Toronto-based indie outfit firmly cementing their sound as fuzzy and swirling guitar textures are paired with glistening synth arpeggios, a propulsive rhythm section and languid vocal melodies to create a song that’s simultaneously dreamily uplifting and moody. While channelling 120 Minutes-era MTV alt rock, the song as the band explains is about “the beginning stages of a relationship, and how you try to make yourself more intriguing or impressive than you are in order to keep that person interested. It also describes the feeling of hopefulness, bliss and loss of control that the start of any new relationship brings.
​
The accompanying stylishly shot video for “All I Die For” features the band in a local park with Diaz Langou brooding in a climbable structure and with her bandmates on a swing behind her, stylishly shot footage of the band playing the song and footage of Toronto at night.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Andrew Sands is a London-based singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and creative mastermind behind rising shoegaze project SANDS. Influenced by Neil Young, David Bowie, The Smiths, David Lynch, Talk Talk, Echo and the Bunnymen and a long list of others, Sands’ own music sees him seamlessly blending rock, psych rock and elements of pop. 

Since starting the project back in 2017, the London-based artist has released a handful of EPs and singles, including 2017’s S/T EP and “Let’s Run”/”Echoes,” 2018’s Waves Calling EP and “Tomorrow’s Gone”/”Burning Man” and 2019’s Nothing Can Go Wrong EP.

Sands’ highly-anticipated full-length debut, The World’s So Cruel is slated for an October 13, 2023. In the lead up to the album’s release, I’ve managed to write about two of its singles:

Written and produced at several London studio locations. including Hackney, South Bermondsey and his apartment, the album’s first single, the high energy “Transmission” featured glistening synths, buzzing guitar riffs, a relentlessly propulsive rhythm, a rousingly anthemic series of hooks and choruses paired with Sands’ plaintive delivery and managed to bring The Stone Roses and the Madchester sound to mind — but with a subtly modern take.

“Transmission” is inspired by the busy and eclectic Northeast London neighborhood that Sands once lived in. The lyrics capture the restless energy and activity of the neighborhood in a way that feels very familiar to me as a native New Yorker. And it does so in a way that feels a bit like a contented sigh of being home, and of awe of everything going on around you.

Built around reverb-drenched guitars, skittering and swaggering boom bap-like drum patterns, along with a glitchy bridge and a scorching guitar solo, The World’s So Cruel‘s second single “When It Starts to Rain” is a slick Stone Roses-like vehicle for the London-based artist’s plaintive vocal and his penchant for crafting remarkably catchy hooks and choruses. The track sonically evokes the sense of daydreaming your way through busy, crowded streets, completely immersed in your thoughts and memories, as though you were in a hallucinatory fever dream of the present and your nostalgia.

The album’s third and latest single “Through This Avenue/The Game” is a road trip anthem built around shimmering and hypnotic guitar work, delicate cymbal-driven percussion, bursts of soaring keys, twinkling organ and the London-based artist’s yearning and vulnerable delivery paired with rousingly anthemic, sing-along friendly choruses.

“‘Through This Avenue /The Game’ is a tribute to 13th Floor Elevators and Roky Erikson. I love his music, voice and the look in his eyes. Fierce and vulnerable at the same time, which I hope can be two traits to describe this track too,” Sands explains. “As in Transmission it draws inspiration from life in that London neighbourhood, but more in a nocturnal setting to the whole picture, like being the soundtrack to that.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Phoenix Shoegazers MRCH Share Anthemic “Cherry Painted Eyes”

Phoenix-based shoegazer outfit MRCH (pronounced as March) — Mickey and Jess Pangburn — can trace their origins to when the duo met at a music store. Their backgrounds at the time were polar opposites. Mickey was a singer/songwriter and Jesse was a prog metal musician. But their differences became a strength — not only in regards to their genre backgrounds, but also their personalities: Mickey longed to make an emotional connection while Jesse loved to experiment with new sounds.

The pair studied jazz in Phoenix before shared influences like Cocteau Twins, New Order, Metric, Phantogram, St. Vincent, Purity Ring, and Beach House led to the creation of MRCH.

Their forthcoming EP, TV Bliss is slated for an October 13, 2023 release through Vertex Music Ltd.. The follow-up to 2020’s No-Holds-Barred EP, the Phoenix-based shoegazer outfit’s forthcoming EP reportedly represents a bold new era for them: The duo delved deeper into collaboration, first developing demos with the help of Jimmy Eat World‘s Jim Adkins. They also enlisted the assistance of Grammy-nominated producer Tony Hoffer and mastering by Dave Cooley.

The EP’s lyrical themes and visual aesthetic were inspired by Mickey Pangburn’s childhood memories of being lost in the escapism of television. Fittingly, the band has had songs appear in a number of TV shows including Shameless, Guilt, The Vampire Diaries, Famous in Love, Search Party, 13 Reasons Why, and The Twilight Zone.

TV Bliss‘ third and latest single “Cherry Painted Eyes” is a dreamy bit of sheogaze that brings back memories of 120 Minutes. The song is built around glistening synth arpeggios, Mickey Pangburn’s yearning delivery, buzzing guitars, thunderous drumming and rousingly anthemic, shout-along worthy choruses. But as the band explains, the upbeat nature of the song is actually deceptive.

“‘Cherry Painted Eyes’ is a song riddled with anxiety. Describing a series of panic attacks and bloodshot eyes . . .,” the band explains. “We wanted to make the video a little more lighthearted than that thought. Set in the void of space, complete with near hit from a passing comet, and a drink to take the edge off. This vid is a DIY playful nod to classics from The Cure and Smashing Pumpkins.”

The video sees the pair employing AI — for good. “We built the sets out of paint, paper, quilt batting, and insulation boards. Then coupled it with AI-generated fill and sketches on ProCreate to help expand the world,” the Phoenix-based duo say. “There’s been a lot of talk in the arts lately about the negative aspects of AI. And there are for sure elements of it that are scary. Ones that can lead to really negative outcomes. But, we’re interested in using it as an opportunity to create beyond our budget. A lot like the approach we take with our music. We use whatever tools we can. Whether it’s the cheapest gear or the newest techniques. It’s all fair game. Some of this new tech kind of gives us a way to realize bigger ideas. The song and video are both a bit about bridging those gaps between fear and opportunity.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Reno’s Had To Shares “120 Minutes”-like “Lucid”

Formed a couple of years ago, Reno-based shoegazers Had To features some of that city’s grizzled music scene vets — with each of the members playing in a number of bands across different genres. But they bonded over a love of big guitar music from the 90s with their major influences being Oasis, Guided By Voices, Catherine Wheel and others. “We all come from similar backgrounds, all from the same area in Reno, Nevada. Not much rock music comes from our area, and we are excited to be one of the few bands like us to come out of there,” the band says.

As the band jokes, they just wanted to write something hat could be played on the Dumb and Dumber soundtrack. Thematically, their work focuses on
“how it’s weird feeling older, and who we are ending up being.”

The Reno-based indie outfit’s Philip Odom-produced sophomore album Is This Normal? was recently released through digital streaming platforms. The album’s lead single “Lucid” sounds as though it wouldn’t be out of place during the 120 Minutes‘ heyday: fuzzy power chords, rousingly anthemic, shout-along worthy hooks and choruses paired with thunderous drumming. For me it brought back found memories of Foo Fighters‘ self-titled debut, Catherine Wheel and others.

Directed by Nate Kahn, the accompanying video fittingly brings back memories of 120 Minutes-era MTV with the visual split between footage of the band driving around a sun-bleached desert in white shirts, slacks, ties and sunglasses. At one point, they brood by what appears to be Lake Tahoe. We also see the band playing a house party.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Austin’s DAIISTAR Shares Fuzzy “Parallel”

Austin-based shoegazers DAIISTAR (pronounced Day-Star) — Alex Capistran (vocals, guitar), Nick Cornetti (drums), Misti Hamrick (bass) and Derek Strahan (keys) — formed back in 2020. And since their formation, the members of DAIISTAR have crafted a narcotic blend of noise and melody that draws from the neo-psychedelic era of the 80s and 90s and modernizes it with modulating synths, heavy guitars, bouncing bass lines and spiraling hooks.

The Austin shoegeazer outfit’s Alex Maas-produced full-length debut, Good Time saw its release yesterday through Fuzz Club, revered British-based purveyors of all things psych. (You can purchase the vinyl here. LEVITATION is also offering their own colored vinyl variant, which is available here.)

“To us these songs were a glimmer of light,” the band’s Alex Capistran says. “Starting a band at the peak of the pandemic to some might seem ill timed, but to us it was a way to escape for a moment. There was something to look forward to and we kept our heads in the future. These songs guided us through some dark times and hopefully they can do the same for you. GOOD TIME is here!“

“Parallel,” Good Time‘s latest single sees the band pairing fluttering synths, buzzing power chords, dreamy falsetto vocals in a way that will bring The Jesus and Mary Chain and more modern fare like Crocodiles and others to mind. But underneath that is a remarkable attention to craft with the band revealing their penchant for catchy hooks.

“Sometimes I’ll be working on a song for weeks, other times I pick up the guitar and write nothing, but the songs that seem to emerge out of thin air always end up being my favorite,” Capistran says. “‘Parallel’ came to me instantly and has become one of the tracks I feel most connected to on the album. It’s a love song contrasted with fuzzed out guitar and driving rhythm. It’s about those days we find ourselves gliding effortlessly through time as two lives in unison and we can’t help but think ‘how is this real.'”

Directed by the band, the accompanying video is indebted to classic 120 Minutes MTV-era visuals: The band performing in a studio with fittingly psychedelic visuals behind them.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Drab Majesty Shares Brooding and Meditative “Yield To Force”

Initially known for his work drumming in Marriages, Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter Andrew Clinco founded founded Drab Majesty back in 2011 as a way to create music as a solo project, with him recording every instrument himself. Clinco created the androgynous character Deb Demure for himself. Alex Nicolaou, a.k.a. Mona D (keys, vocals) joined the project in 2016. 

Since signing to Dais Records, the Los Angeles-based duo have released three albums, 2015’s Careless, 2017’s The Demonstration, 2019’s Modern Mirror, which saw the project combining androgynous aesthetics and commanding vocals with futuristic and occult lyrics, to create a style and sound that the band’s Demure refers to as “tragic wave.” 

Released late last month through Dais Records and clocking in at 32 minutes, the duo’s latest release An Object in Motion sits somewhere between an EP and mini-album while also marking a new chapter in the project’s story: Written during a 2021 retreat to the remote costal Oregon town of Yachats, the band’s Deb Demure leaned into the neo-psychedelic resonance of a uniquely bowl-shaped 12-string Ovation acoustic/electric guitar. 

After early morning hikes in the rain, Demure would record ambient guitar experiments the rest of the day, tapping into “flow states,” in which he would let the sound lead the way. Those sessions were then refined or recreated and then later elevated with contributions from Slowdive‘s Rachel Goswell, Beck’s, M83‘s and Air’s Justin Meldal-Johnsen, and Uniform’s Ben Greenberg. Fittingly, the EP reportedly holds true to its title, as it captures Demure and Drab Majesty in a transitional state, and evolving while showcasing a series of potential futures from the project. 

In the lead-up to the EP’s release, I wrote about two of its singles:

  • The effort’s first single, “Vanity,” featuring Slowdive’s Rachel Goswell. Built around shimmering, reverb-drenched, 12 string guitar and gated reverb-soaked drum patterns. Demure’s plaintive yet commanding baritone is paired with Goswell’s imitable and expressive vocal, which seamlessly intertwine in an uncannily gorgeous, swooning harmony. To my ears, “Vanity” seemed like a synthesis of Lita Ford and Ozzy Osbourne‘s “Close My Eyes Forever,” Sisters of Mercy, Disintegration-era The Cure and Goswell’s work with Slowdive — or in other words, something that will warm the cold hearts of any goth. 

  • “The Skin and The Glove,” a lush, Smiths-meets-Slowdive/RIDE-like song built around reverb-soaked, shimmering 12 string guitar, a driving groove paired with the Los Angeles-based duo’s uncannily unerring knack for gorgeous harmonies and catchy hooks. But under the lush soundscapes is a song that thematically touches upon the endless march of time, and our inevitable mortality. 

Clocking in at a little over 15 minutes, An Object in Motion‘s closing track, the expansive “Yield To Force” is built around glistening, cynical strings, ominous slide guitar and shimmering synthesizer. The result is a composition that’s intuitive yet meditative with the instrumentation that spirals, sways, crests and ebbs like waves crashing into the shore.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Slowdive Shares Shimmering and Yearning “alfie”

Slowdive — co-founders  Neil Halstead (vocals, guitar) and Rachel Goswell along with Nick Chaplin (bass), Christian Savill (guitar) and Simon Scott (drums) — will be releasing their highly-anticipated fifth album everything is alive on September 1, 2023 through Dead Oceans. everything is alive is the shoegaze pioneers’ first album in over six years, and the material reportedly sees the British outfit finding ever more contours of its immersive, elemental sound. Individually, each of the album’s songs contain the duality of a familiar internal language mixed with the exaltation of new beginnings.

The record began with the band’s Halstead in the role of writer and producer, working on demos at home. Experimenting with modular synths, Halstead originally conceived everything is alive as a “more minimal electronic record.” The band’s collective decision-making ultimately saw them drawing back to their signature reverb-drenched guitar sound — but the synths seeped their way into the compositions. “As a band, when we’re all happy with it, that tends to be the stronger material. We’ve always come from slightly different directions, and the best bits are where we all meet in the middle.” Halstead says. “Slowdive is very much the sum of its parts,” Goswell adds. “Something unquantifiable happens when the five of us come together in a room.”

The album was recorded over a couple of years, starting in the fall of 2020 at Courtyard Studio, where they’ve historically recorded. Sessions moved to Oxfordshire, and then the Wolds of Lincolnshire and then to Halstead’s Cornish studio. Early last year, the band enlisted Shawn Everett to mix six of the album’s eight tracks. 

Because of their deep and lengthy history, there’s a palpable familial energy to the band — and fittingly to to the album: The album is dedicated to Goswell’s mother and Scott’s father, who both died in 2020. “There were some profound shifts for some of us personally,” Goswell says. Life’s profound shifts and uneasy crossroads are often reflected in the many-layered emotional tenor of their music. And while everything is aliveis informed by some of life’s heaviest experiences, the material sees the band poised, wizened and pitching themselves to hope. Sure, there’s sadness, but there’s gratitude and uplift, coming from the acknowledgement that life is complicated yet profoundly beautiful in itself. 

Thematically, the album is in many ways an exploration into the shimmering nature of life and the universal touch points within it. Sonically, the album reportedly sees the acclaimed British outfit boldly pushing their sound towards the future with the material touching upon the psychedelic soundscapes they’ve long been known for but with 80s electronic elements, and John Cale-inspired journeys.

In the lead-up to the album’s release on Friday, I’ve managed to write about three of the album’s singles:

  • “kisses,” a breathtakingly gorgeous song, which struck me as being a sort of gentle refinement of the classics enveloping Slowdive sound that fans have long adored: reverb-drenched guitar textures,. Goswell’s and Halstead’s uncannily precise, yearning harmonies, soaring hooks and choruses and a gently driving groove — with featuring an emphasis on atmospheric synths. The result is a song that — for me, at least — evokes a waking dream full of intertwined yearning, nostalgia and hope. 

  • “skin in the game,” a slow-burning, forlorn and smudged song built around Halstead’s aching vocal radiating outward from hazy and distorted guitars paired with a narcotic and syrupy rhythm. Much like its immediate predecessor, the song evokes a woozily heartbreaking nostalgia, mixed with regret., unease and uncertainty.

  • “the slab,” one of the album’s heaviest songs and arguably one of Slowdive’s heaviest songs they’ve written or recorded in some time. Built around skittering and thunderous percussion, layers of reverb-drenched guitar fuzz and menacing synths, the song features Halstead’s plaintive delivery buried in the mix, seemingly desperately to burst out from its confines.

The album’s fourth and final pre-release single “alfie” is a breathtakingly gorgeous song that harkens back to the band’s 2017 self-titled album with the track featuring layers of shimmering guitars paired with a steady backbeat, Halstead’s yearning reverb-soaked vocal and the founding duo’s uncannily precise harmonies.

“‘alife’ is one of the first tunes we finished for the record,” Slowdive’s Halstead says. “Shawn Everett did a really nice job with the mix. We tried so many times to figure out a good mix by ourselves and couldn’t do it . . . it sort of had us beaten until Shawn stepped in. We decided if he could handle that one he could probably do the whole record. Our friend Jake Nelson did a really nice animation for this song; it takes some of the imagery from the artwork and digs a little deeper into that.”