During the pandemic, Austin-based dream pop/shoegazer outfit and JOVM mainstays Blushing — married couples Christina Carmona (vocals, bass) and Noe Carmona (guitar, keys) and Michelle Soto (guitar, vocals) and Jacob Soto (drums) —signed to Kanine Records, who released their sophomore album, 2022’s Possessions.  

Possessions was an album born out of incredible patience and perseverance: The earliest tracking sessions started in 2019 and continued in fits and starts through the quarantines, lockdowns and re-openings of the pandemic. There was also breaks in production: Frazier and his spouse welcomed their second child and that was followed by massive blackouts across Texas as a result of the winter storm that wrecked havoc across the region. 

When the album was finally finished, the material saw the band embracing the full and complicated spectrum of life and relationships, but while recognizing the need for escape and whimsy. The album also saw the band collaborating with two legendary shoegazers — Lush and Piroshka‘s Miki Berenyi, who contributes vocals on “Blame” and RIDE‘s Mark Gardener, who mastered the album at his OX4 Sound in the UK. 

Immediately after the band wrapped the Possessions recording sessions, they began writing new material. Noe or Christina would upload a new song idea to a Google Drive almost daily, and within the hour, Michelle would have melody and lyrics fully formed. The band didn’t want to create an album, where each song was made to fit into the same aesthetic mold. Instead, they decided to run with each idea, no matter which direction it went, resulting in material that feels a bit like a sampler of the quartet’s collective influences — and much like a band playfully expanding and experimenting with their sound. 

While there are tracks that will be immediately recognized as being Blushing songs, the band’s third album Sugarcoat reportedly sees the band taking the opportunity to explore their love of post-punk, psych-gaze, grunge pop, indie pop, slowcore and more. Thematically and lyrically, the album asks many questions and sees its narrators reaching out to someone to provide answers or for the answers to come from within. Much of the questioning is informed by the constant uncertainty of our world and the inherent uncertainty of one’s life. Of course, one gets older. But with the accumulation of mistakes and wisdom, there are moments where you’re forced to confront yourself and question past decisions and actions. And you do so in the face of an unknowable, even more uncertain and uneasy future. 

Last month, I wrote about “Tamagotchi,” a decidedly playful Blushing-like song that seemed lovingly indebted to 120 Minutes-era MTV rock featuring fuzzy and crunchy guitars, Christina Carmona’s and Michelle Soto’s ethereal harmonies, thunderous drumming and an enormous chorus. The song’s narrator tells a tale of being indecisive with a matter of the heart and desiring to be playable character that has the big decisions made for you. Would you still feel heartache and regret, if someone else were pushing the buttons? 

Sugarcoat‘s second and latest single “Seafoam is a woozy mix of post-punk, early 90s alt rock and riot grrl punk and moody shoegaze that reminds me a bit of Finelines-era My Vitriol and features a scorching lead guitar contribution from former Smashing Pumpkins‘ guitarist Jeff Schroeder, who recorded his lead guitar lines during some time down time while touring with Smashing Pumpkins. That guitar line is paired with a brooding yet propulsive baseline and Christina Carmona’s delivery, which stars sweetly and tenderly before turning scalding. “While chatting after a Smashing Pumpkins concert one night, we made a joke about Jeff playing lead guitar on the next album,” says the band. “A few years later when Sugarcoat was being recorded we decided to see if Jeff would be interested in making the suggestion a reality. He enthusiastically accepted and later sent over a guitar track that flowed perfectly with ‘Seafoam.’”

Lyrically and thematically, the song’s narrator openly discusses the sense of anger and betrayal that comes from a dwindling romantic that’s petering out to its inevitable conclusion.

Directed by Eddie Chavez and edited by Jake Soto, the accompanying video for “Seafoam” was shot at Austin’s Link & Pin Art Gallery and features work by Kiah Denson and Christina Green-Martinez. Throughout the video,. the band dressed to the nine’s in their finest, alternating between vamping and brooding through the gorgeous space and performing the song.