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 officially dropped today.
Last month, I wrote about “All I Die For” saw the Canadian indie outfit firmly cementing their sound with fuzzy and swirling guitar textures paired with glistening synth arpeggios, a propulsive rhythm section and languid vocal melodies. The result is a song that manages to be simultaneously dreamy, uplifting and moody while channeling 120 Minutes-era MTV alt rock.
Into The Blue Night‘s latest single, album opening track “In Puzzles” is a breezy, uplifting song built around swirling shoegazer textures and a propulsive rhythm section paired with Diaz Langou’s languid and ethereal vocal. Continuing a run of decidedly 120 Minutes-era MTV alt rock-like indie and early shoegaze-inspired material, “In Puzzles” manages to evoke the swooning sense of excitement and optimism in a blossoming romance.
The accompanying video for “In Puzzles” is set in a dreamy, mind-bending Memento-like world in which we see the band’s Diaz Langou bearing gifts of roses and balloons — both going forward and in reverse down a suburban street.
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