Category: Shoegaze

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstays The KVB Offers a Glimpse Into Our Dystopian Future

Currently based out of Manchester, UK, the acclaimed shoegazers and JOVM mainstay outfit The KVB initially started in 2010 as the solo recording project of founder, singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Nicholas Wood. Wood released a series of limited cassette an vinyl releases as a solo recording project; but by 2011, vocalist, keyboardist and visual artist Kat Day joined the project.

In the decade since Day joined the project, The KVB have released several critically applauded albums and EPs through a number of different labels before signing to Geoff Barrow‘s Invada Records,who released 2018’s Only Now Forever. Interestingly, each of the duo’s acclaimed releases saw them crafting a sound simultaneously inspired by The Jesus and Mary Chain and Cabaret Voltaire; however, with each subsequent effort, the band has managed to streamline their sound.

Through extensive touring across the European Union, the UK, China, Russia and Japan, the duo have amassed a devoted fanbase globally. Now, as you may recall during the pandemic, Day and Wood relocated from Berlin to Manchester to work on their sixth album, the Andy Savors-produced Unity. Slated for a November 26, 2021 release through Invada Records, the duo’s sixth album will reportedly represent a new and exciting development in their sonic development: Through the album’s ten songs, the duo pull together their trademark components, radiant guitars, textured synths and an near for a moody, brooding melody paired with a renewed dynamism.

Interestingly, the initial writing sessions for their forthcoming album took place in Spain during early 2019, where the duo found influence from the “half built luxury villas, still unfinished from the crash in 2008. There was something eerie and beautiful about the desolate landscapes and concrete in the sunshine,” the band says in press notes. While their sound and approach has always been informed by what seems like our inevitable dystopian future, there is also more of a rapturous release to the material. Thematically, the album combines double meanings and there’s a sleight of hand present.

Earlier this year, I wrote about “World on Fire,” a single that found the duo continuing to refine their sound: Starting with burst of drum machine, the song was centered around buzzing and slashing power chords, shimmering and arpeggiated synths, a relentless motorik groove and a euphoric hook paired with the duo’s breathy boy-girl harmonies. Sonically, the track — to my ears, at least — found the duo pushing the boundaries of shoegaze in a similar fashion to Lightfoils, BLACKSTONE RNGRS and others while giving their sound a gauzy, New Order-like sheen. 

“Unité,” Unity‘s latest single may arguably be their most dance floor friendly track of their growing catalog: Centered around thumping beats, shimmering synth arpeggios, and a relentlessly hypnotic, motorik groove paired with Kat Day’s ethereal deadpan delivery, “Unité” sounds as though it could have easily been part of the Trans Europe Express or Man Machine sessions. The duo explains that the new single is “a homage to our time living in Berlin, with the pounding kick drum and grinding electronics.” Te song is a perfect example of the Manchester-based duo meshing dark and light sensibilities in a seamless fashion: while being a euphoric club banger, the song references urbanization and its dystopian potential.

The recently released video is set in a dystopian future, much like that in Minority Report, in which the viewer is inundated by advertisements and screens.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Seattle’s Fotoform Returns with a Brooding New Single

Deriving their name from a mid-century avant-garde photography movement, Seattle-based post punk outfit Fotoform — longtime collaborators and married couple Kim House (bass, vocals, synths) and Geoffrey Cox (guitar), along with newest member, Michael Schorr (drums), who has had stints with Death Cab for Cutie and The Long Winters  — can trace their origins back to the formation of a previous project, the goth-adjacent dream pop act C’est la Mort, which formed shortly after House and Cox married. 

Specializing in what they dubbed “pointy-shoegaze,” C’est la Mort released their full-length debut through their own Dismal Nitch label, as well as various compilation tracks, including a limited split 7 inch with Stars for American Laundromat‘s The Smiths‘ tribute Please Please Please. After a series of lineup changes, House and Cox re-emerged as Fotoform in late 2016. 

House and Cox released their Fotoform self-titled debut in 2017. Supported with tours of the West Coast and Europe, the album received airplay and praise both locally and nationally: Album single “I Know You’re Charming” was featured as a KEXP Song of The Day. The self-titled album was voted as one of KEXP Listeners’ Top 90.3 Albums of 2017 and it landed on several year-end lists, including The Big Takeover and Part-Time Punks.

Building upon a growing profile, the band followed up with 2018’s Part-Time Punks EP, which was selected as one of The Big Takeover’s EPs of 2018. Michael Schorr joined the band in 2019 and they started last year with two benefit singles “Yves Klein Blue,” which was recored for voter outreach and the Christmas-themed “They Say It’s Always Lonely” to benefit local food banks. Both singles found the trio expanding upon their sound with the addition of synths.

The trio then went into the studio with Evan Foster to record the material for their forthcoming sophomore album Horizons in early 2020. But as a result of pandemic-related quarantines and restrictions, the Horizons sessions resumed a year later with Foster — and with Matt Bayles recording drum parts.

Horizons, which is slated for an October 15, 2021 release, reportedly finds the band pivoting even further from the towering wall of guitars-based sound of their previously released work and towards a much more nuanced sound drawing equally from shoegaze, dream pop and post-punk. Continuing to pair synths with layers of guitars and driving bass, the album’s sound may bring the likes of The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Chameleons, Cocteau Twins, Slowdive and others to mind. 

So far, I’ve written about two of Horizons‘ singles”

  • The Garlands era Cocteau Twins meets Souvlaki era Slowdive-like “Running,” a track centered around atmospheric synths, swirling guitars, soaring hooks and a forceful motorik pulse paired with House’s ethereal vocals.
  • “Too Late,” the first single to feature the band’s Kim House on guitar. Arguably, the most dynamic single off the album the single sees the band further establishing their painterly and textured approach but while featuring a fed-up narrator, who spends the song telling off someone who has grievously wronged her.

“You Set Fire to the Sun,” Horizons‘ latest single continues a run of brooding, Cocteau Twins-like material centered around shimmering and reverb-drenched guitars, thunderous drumming, ethereal vocals and enormous hooks. But unlike its immediate predecessor, “You Set Fire to the Sun” is a swooning ode to desire and longing.

Besides the new album, the trio — much like the rest of us — is looking forward to getting back to live shows and touring. They’ve also been writing and working on new material, including a split 7 inch with Savage Republic. 

The band has an pre-order for the album: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/fotoform/horizons

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Slow Crush Returns with a “120 Minutes” Era MTV-like Visual for “Swoon”

With the release of 2018’s full-length debut Aurora, Belgian shoegazers Slow Crush — currently Isa Holliday (vocals, bass), Jelle Harde Ronsmans (guitar), Jeroen Jullet (guitar) and Frederik Meeuwis (drums) — exploded into the international shoegaze scene. And between 2018 and early 2020, the Belgian outfit supported their debut with relentless touring across the world with acts like Pelican, Torche, Soft Kill, and Gouge Away — and with festival stops at Roadburn, ArcTanGent, 2000Trees and Groezrock.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Slow Crush was forced to cancel two European tours and a Stateside tour at the last minute. Interestingly, for Slow Crush, the pandemic was a bit of a blessing and a curse: The time off from touring allowed the and to re-think and re-group. Aurora‘s unexpected success and the demands of heavy touring had taken a toll on everyone’s personal lives. And it was intensified with a massive lineup change that resulted in two members leavingHolliday and Ronsmans eventually recruited the band’s newest members Jullet and Meeuwis to complete the band’s newest lineup. Shortly after the band’s newest lineup was settled, their label Holy Roar Records collapsed, leaving the band without a home. 

Hush, Slow Crush’s sophomore album is slated for an October 22, 2021 release through Quiet Panic. Written in between tours and the unexpected downtime during pandemic-related restrictions and lockdowns, the album’s material is heavily influenced by turbulent times — both personal and global. While further cementing their sound, featuring abrasive and whirling layers of guitars, thunderous drumming paired with Holliday’s ethereal vocals, Hush reportedly finds the band growing as musicians and songwriters. Although the album was informed by and inspired by the dark and heavy times, the material isn’t all bleak; in fact, it’s filled with the hope for a bright, new day.

Earlier this year, I wrote about the brooding album title track “Hush.” Centered around an expansive song structure with alternating dreamy and stormy sections featuring towering layers of feedback and fuzz pedaled guitars, thunderous drumming and Holiday’s sensual yet ethereal cooing, “Hush” expresses an aching and unreciprocated longing.

“Swoon,” Hush‘s latest single is a breakneck ripper centered around fuzzy power chords, thunderous drumming, mosh pit friendly hooks. And while the song’s arrangement brings Finelines era My Vitriol and Lightfoils to mind, Isa Holiday’s ethereal vocals sing introspective and impressionistic lyrics. The song can be read in a number of different ways: it could be read as touching upon the loneliness, uncertainty and longing that comes about as a result of a seemingly bitter breakup. But it can also be read as a desire to escape a bleak world through connecting with someone equally as lonely as you are.

Directed by Jeroen Jullet, the recently released video for “Swoon” follows young doppelgängers for Slow Crush as they hit the road for their next show in a van paired with footage of the band’s Holiday walking through the woods in a frenetically edited, 120 Minutes MTV-like visual.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

With the release of 2091’s Mouth Full of You EP, the rising Malmö-based shoegazer outfit  Spunsugar — Elin Ramstedt, Cordelia Moreau, and Felix Sjöström — quickly established a genre-blurring sound, which features elements of industrial electronica, post-punk, noise rock, shoegaze and dream pop. Mouth Full of You would wind up earning international attention with the EP receiving airplay from BBC 6 Music‘s Steve Lamacq.

Building upon a growing profile, the Swedish trio released their critically applauded, Joakim Lindberg-produced full-length debut Drive-Through Chapel last October through Adrian Recordings.  The album, which featured the brooding 4AD Records-like ” “Happier Happyless,” and the breakneck ripper   “Run,” a single that reminded me of Lightfoils, The Sisters of Mercy, Chain of Flowers found the members of Spunsugar actively seeking to emulate the sounds of  Cocteau Twins, Slowdive, and others — but while simultaneously crafting some of their hardest hitting material to date.

The acclaimed Swedish shoegazer outfit start off the year with their latest single “Rodan.” Featuring twinkling synths, reverb-drenched drums, glistening guitars, a chugging bass line and a soaring hook, the arrangement serves as a sumptuous bed for sultry and expressive vocals, “Rodan” sees the members of Spunsugar crafting a lushly textured song that manages to be sonically indebted to Cocteau Twins while arguably being their most danceable single to date.

The new single’s title derives its name from Rodan, a Japanese movie monster, like Godzilla. “That’s who I felt like while writing the lyrics,” Spunsugar’s Cordelia Moreau says in press notes. Interestingly, Rodan was the first Kaiju movie made in color — and there’s some fitting symbolism to the title: While inspired by the past, the song reveals a subtle new direction for the band.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: Miami’s Seafoam Walls Perform “Program” at Pulp Arts

Formed back in 2016, the Miami-based indie act Seafoam Walls — Jayan Bertrand (vocals, guitar), Josh Ewers (bass), Josue Vargas (electronic drums) and Dion Kerr (guitar) — caught the attention of cult music and art communities across South Florida for developing and honing a new genre, which they’ve dubbed ” Caribbean Jazzgaze,” as it meshes elements of jazz, shoegaze, rock, hip-hop and Afro-Caribbean rhythms.

Initially known in local circles, the members of Seafoam Walls exploded into the international scene following a secret, all-ages matinee show with DC hardcore photographer Susie J. and Sonic Youth‘s Thurston Moore. Over the past couple of the years, the Miami-based band have been busy: 2018 saw the release of their debut EP R-E-F-L-E-C-T and the following year, one-off single “Root.”

Earlier this year, Seafoam Walls released “Dependency” through Thurston Moore’s The Daydream Library Series as a Record Store Day release. Building upon a growing profile, the members of Seafoam Walls will be releasing their highly-anticipated full-length debut XVI later this year. Last month, the Miami-based quartet released “Program,” XVI’s first official single. The slow burning and painterly single features a wobbling bass line, shimmering guitars, bursts of feedback, a scorching guitar solo and chanted vocals. While continuing a run of bold, genre-defying material, “Program” manages to be a slick synthesis of A Storm of in Heaven-like shoegaze, krautrock and post-punk that will draw comparisons to TV on the Radio. 

The rising Miami-based band released a live version of “Program” recorded at Pulp Arts for Bandcamp Friday – and there’s accompanying live footage.

Bandcamp Friday may arguably be the best way to support independent musicians: Bandcamp waives their take and the artists behind these great songs and albums receive 100% of all proceeds for the day. Many artists on the platform, also donate portions of their earnings from the platform to worthy and notable charities. So if you have a few extra dollars, please support these artists and their endeavors. It’s impossible to continue art without money.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

With the release of their debut EP I Used to Love You, Now I Don’t, the rising Brighton-based dream pop act and JOVM mainstays Hanya — currently Heather Sheret (vocal, guitar), Benjamin Varnes (guitar), Jorge Bela (bass) and Jack Watkins (drums) — garnered attention nationally and across the blogosphere for crafting a sound that featured elements of dream pop and shoegaze.

Last year, much like countless acts across the globe, the members of Hanya had plans to build upon a rapidly growing national and international profile: they released their acclaimed sophomore EP Sea Shoes, which they supported with touring across the UK and their Stateside debut at that year’s New Colossus Festival. Since their The Bowery Electric set last March, the band has been busy writing new material, which has included singles like:

  • “Texas,” a shimmering bit of dream pop that nods at 70s AM rock, and focuses on the longing and excitement of a new crush/new love/new situationship
  • “Monochrome,”a hazy and slow-burning ballad that celebrates the pleasures of life’s small things
  • “Lydia,” a slow-burning and gorgeous track that continues upon their winning mix of 70s AM rock and Beach House-like dream pop.

Building upon a rapidly growing profile, the Brighton-based dream pop outfit will be releasing their highly-anticipated third EP later this fall. Featuring delicately guitars, a sinuous bass line. and a wah wah pedaled guitar solo, “Fortunes” the forthcoming EP’s lead single is a slow-burning track centered around A Storm In Heaven like painterly textures, ethereal harmonies and deeply personal, lived-in lyricism.

“‘Fortunes’ started almost as a joke as we teased the idea of writing a laid-back Y2K banger,” Hanya’s Heather Sheret explains in press notes. “Naturally, the more we wrote, the more we loved it. We followed our musical nose until we felt we had tapped into something special. Light, yet heavy, and catchy as hell the track details how getting outside of your comfort zone can often lead to finding the best version of yourself.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Seattle’s Fotoform Returns with a Defiant New Single

Deriving their name from a mid-century avant-garde photography movement, Seattle-based post punk outfit Fotoform — longtime collaborators and married couple Kim House (bass, vocals, synths) and Geoffrey Cox (guitar), along with newest member, former Death Cab for Cutie’s and The Long Winters’ Michael Schorr (drums) — can trace their origins back to the formation of a previous project, the dark, goth-adjacent dream pop act C’est la Mort, which formed shortly after House and Cox married.

Specializing in what they dubbed “pointy-shoegaze,” C’est la Mort released their full-length debut through their own Dismal Nitch label, as well as various compilation tracks, including a limited split 7 inch with Stars for American Laundromat‘s The Smiths‘ tribute Please Please Please. After a series of lineup changes, House and Cox re-emerged as Fotoform in late 2016.  

House and Cox released their Fotoform self-titled debut in 2017. Supported with tours of the West Coast and Europe, the album received airplay and praise both locally and nationally: Album single “I Know You’re Charming” was featured as a KEXP Song of The Day. The self-titled album was voted as one of KEXP Listeners’ Top 90.3 Albums of 2017 and it landed on several year-end lists, including The Big Takeover and Part-Time Punks. Building upon a growing profile, the band followed up with 2018’s Part-Time Punks EP, which was selected as one of The Big Takeover’s EPs of 2018.

Schorr joined the band in 2019 and they started last year with two benefit singles “Yves Klein Blue,” which was recored for voter outreach and the Christmas-themed “They Say It’s Always Lonely” to benefit local food banks. Both singles found the trio expanding upon their sound with the addition of synths. The trio then went into the studio with Evan Foster to record the material for their forthcoming sophomore album Horizons in early 2020. But as a result of pandemic-related quarantines and restrictions, the Horizons sessions resumed a year later with Foster — and with Matt Bayles recording drum parts.

Horizons, which is slated for an October 15, 2021 release reportedly finds the band pivoting even further from the towering wall of guitars-based sound of their previously released work and towards a much more nuanced sound drawing equally from shoegaze, dream pop and post-punk. Continuing to pair synths with layers of guitars and driving bass, the album’s sound may bring the likes of The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Chameleons, Cocteau Twins, Slowdive and others to mind.

Earlier this year, I wrote about the painterly Garlands era Cocteau Twins meets Souvlaki era Slowdive-like “Running,” a track centered around atmospheric synths, swirling guitars, soaring hooks and a forceful motorik pulse paired with House’s ethereal vocals. Horizons’ latest single “Too Late” may arguably be the most dynamic single off the album to date: Featuring the band’s Kim House on guitar for the first time in their history, the single further establishing their painterly and textured approach but while featuring a fed up narrator, who’s fed up and telling off someone who has wronged her.

We’ve all experienced moments when boundaries have been crossed, whether by ourselves or someone else, and there’s no going back,” Fotoform’s Kim House explains. “‘Too Late’ is about that moment of alienation- the point of no return. It’s almost a two-sided monologue, it’s a warning/reminder but also a kind of satisfying break-up song about being strong enough to cut someone off who has wronged you emotionally, romantically, or even professionally: That’s it, ‘you’re cut off.’ But: ‘you did it to yourself.’” 

Besides the new album, the trio — much like the rest of us — is looking forward to getting back to live shows and touring. They’ve also been writing and working on new material, including a split 7 inch with Savage Republic. 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Miami’s Seafoam Walls Releases a Slow-burning, Genre-Defying Single

Formed back in 2016, the Miami-based indie act Seafoam Walls — Jayan Bertrand (vocals, guitar), Josh Ewers (bass), Josue Vargas (electronic drums) and Dion Kerr (guitar) — caught the attention of cult music and art communities across South Florida for developing and honing a new genre, which they’ve dubbed ” Caribbean Jazzgaze,” as it meshes elements of jazz, shoegaze, rock, hip-hop and Afro-Caribbean rhythms.

Initially known in local circles, the members of Seafoam Walls exploded into the international scene following a secret, all-ages matinee show with DC hardcore photographer Susie J. and Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore. Over the past couple of the years, the Miami-based band have been busy: 2018 saw the release of their debut EP R-E-F-L-E-C-T and the following year, one-off single “Root.”

Earlier this year, Seafoam Walls released “Dependency” through Thurston Moore’s The Daydream Library Series as a Record Store Day release. Building upon a growing profile, the members of Seafoam Walls will be releasing their highly-anticipated full-length debut XVI later this year. But in the meantime, the Miami-based quartet have released XVI’s first official single, the slow-burning and painterly “Program.” Featuring a wobbling bass line, shimmering bursts of feedback-driven guitar, a scorching guitar solo and chanted vocals fed through a gentle layer of distortion, “Program” continues a run of bold, genre-defying material: In the case of the new single you’ll hear nods at A Storm in Heaven-like shoegaze, krautrock and post-punk mixed in a fashion that will draw comparisons to TV on the Radio.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Belgian Shoegazers Slow Crush Release a Brooding and Gorgeous Visual for Stormy Yet Dreamy “Hush”

With the release of 2018’s full-length debut Aurora, Belgian shoegazers Slow Crush — currently Isa Holliday (vocals, bass), Jelle Harde Ronsmans (guitar), Jeroen Jullet (guitar) and Frederik Meeuwis (drums) — exploded into the international shoegaze scene: Between 2018 and early 2020, the Belgian shoegazer outfit supported Aurora with relentless and almost nonstop touring across the world with acts like Pelican, Torche, Soft Kill, Gouge Away — and with festival stops at Roadburn, ArcTanGent, 2000Trees and Groezrock.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Slow Crush had to cancel two European tours and a Stateside tour at the last minute. Much like countless other artists around the world, the pandemic for the band was both a blessing and a curse. The time off from touring allowed the band centered around Holliday and Ronsmans to recoup and rethink. Aurora’s unexpected success and heavy touring had taken a toll on everyone’s private lives — and it was intensified with a massive lineup change that resulted in two members leaving. Holliday and Ronsmans eventually recruited the band’s newest members Jullet and Meeuwis to complete the band’s newest lineup. Shortly, after the band settled on a new lineup, their label Holy Roar Records collapsed, leaving the band without a label home.

The Belgian shoegazers’ highly anticipated sophomore album Hush is slated for an October 22, 2021 release through Quiet Panic. Written in between tours and the unexpected downtime during a pandemic-related restrictions and lockdowns, the album’s material is heavily influenced by turbulent times — both personal and global. While further cementing their sound, featuring abrasive and whirling layers of guitars, thunderous drumming paired with Holliday’s ethereal vocals, Hush reportedly finds the band growing as musicians and songwriters. And although the album may arguably be the darkest and heaviest of their growing catalog to date, it’s filled with hope for a bright, new day.

Hush’s latest single, album title track “Hush” is a brooding track featuring towering layers of feedback and fuzz-pedaled guitars, thunderous drumming paired with Holiday’s sensual yet ethereal cooing within an expansive song structure centered around alternating stormy and forceful sequences and shimmering, slow-burning and dreamy sequences. Interestingly, at its core “Hush” is filled with an aching — and perhaps somewhat unreciprocated — longing.

Directed by Bobby Took at Sumo Crucial and featuring live band footage by Vincent Van Hoorick, the recently released video for “Hush” is a gorgeously shot, brooding and moon-lit like shot visual with witches, eerie woods and hallucinogenic sequences.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Fotoform’s Hallucinogenic Visuals for Brooding and Atmospheric “Running”

Deriving their name from a mid-century avant-garde photography movement, Seattle-based post punk outfit Fotoform — longtime collaborators and married couple Kim House (bass, vocals, synths) and Geoffrey Cox (guitar), along with newest member, former Death Cab for Cutie and The Long Winters member Michael Schorr (drums) — can trace their origins back to the formation of a previous project, the dark, goth-adjacent dream pop act C’est la Mort shortly after House and Cox married.

Specializing in what they dubbed “pointy-shoegaze,” C’est la Mort released their full-length debut through their own Dismal Nitch label, as well as various compilation tracks, including a limited split 7 inch with Stars for American Laundromat’s The Smiths’ tribute Please Please Please. After a series of lineup changes, House and Cox re-emerged as Fotoform in late 2016.

ouse and Cox released their Fotoform self-titled debut in 2017. Supported with tours of the West Coast and Europe, the album received airplay and praise both locally and nationally: Album single “I Know You’re Charming” was featured as a KEXP Song of The Day. The self-titled album was voted as one of KEXP Listeners’ Top 90.3 Albums of 2017 and it landed on several year-end lists, including The Big Takeover and Part-Time Punks. Building upon a growing profile, the band followed up with 2018’s Part-Time Punks EP, which was selected as one of The Big Takeover’s EPs of 2018.

Blue,” which was recored for voter outreach and the Christmas-themed “They Say It’s Always Lonely” to benefit local food banks. Both singles found the trio expanding upon their sound with the addition of synths. The trio went into the studio with Evan Foster to record the material for their forthcoming sophomore album Horizons in early 2020. And as a result of pandemic-related quarantines and restrictions, the Horizons sessions resumed a year later with Foster — and with Matt Bayles recording drum parts.

Slated for an October 15, 2021 release, Horizons reportedly finds the band pivoting even further from the towering wall of guitars-based sound of its predecessors towards a much more nuanced sound drawing equally from shoegaze, dream pop and post-punk: Pairing synths with layers of guitars and driving bass, the band’s sound seems indebted to the likes of The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Chameleons, Cocteau Twins, Slowdive and others.

Horizons’ latest single, the brooding “Running” serves as a taste of what listeners should expect from the new album: atmospheric synths, swirling layers of guitars, driving bass lines, thunderous drumming and soaring hooks paired with House’s ethereal vocals. Essentially, the new single sees the band pairing patient, painterly textures with forceful motorik pulse in a way that makes the song feel — and sound — like a slick mesh of Garlands-era Cocteau Twins and Souvlaki-era Slowdive.

“‘Running’ was the first song we wrote with the new lineup (myself, Geoff, Michael), almost a statement of purpose as we rethought how we approached our sound and writing,” Fotoform’s Kim house recalls in press notes. “With one less guitar we had more space to play with and fill- or intentionally not fill. It was inspiring, and in some ways freeing, to reconstruct and re-envision everything. I’d just started playing around with a drum machine and 16-track at home, and this one was a result of really stripping back everything to the bass and vocals and then building it up from there. 

“At its core ‘Running’ is about peeling back the layers to connect with your innermost self. Summoning the courage, patience and stillness to distill it down and uncover what truly matters, to listen to our hearts and tap into the subconscious,” House says. “It’s about facing fears and insecurities and having the courage to go after what will truly make you happy (or “make your heart happy” as my dad would say), which oftentimes might be in the opposite direction of what we’re running toward, whether in relationships, life paths and choices, etc. The hardest thing sometimes is to look deep within and listen to ourselves, to follow our instincts and face what we may know is true but are too afraid to admit for fear of change, risk, loss, disappointment, or failure.”

House adds, “On a personal level, ‘Running’ was written in the midst of a period of significant change and reflection. I had just left my role as Footwear Design Director at Nordstrom. It was a whirlwind of a job I held for many years – one which required lots of travel in the US and Europe, intense long hours, and barely enough room for other passions or pursuits. It was rewarding, but almost all encompassing.”

The recently released video for “Running” manages to emphasize the brooding and trippy late night vibes of its accompanying song — all while being gorgeously shot and slickly edited.

Besides the new album, the trio — much like the rest of us — is looking forward to getting back to live shows and touring. They’ve also been writing and working on new material, including a split 7 inch with Savage Republic.