Jindoss is a mysterious, Saint Malo, France singer/songwriter, who released their debut EP Rendez-vous late last week. The EP’s latest single “Saturday Night” quickly (and boldly) establishes the French artist’s sound: swirling and brooding shoegaze centered around shimmering, reverb-drenched guitars, plaintive wailing and boom bap-like drumming. Sonically, “Saturday Night” strikes me as a seamless synthesis of PJ Harvey-like atmospherics and A Storm in Heaven-era The Verve-like textures.
Singer/songwriter, guitarist and producer Christopher Goett may be best known for his work in Silo Halo. And after a decade stint in Washington, D.C., Goett returned to Los Angeles — and he quickly amassed a growing collection of songs. Interestingly, Goett credits his longtime friend, Sleepmask’s and Dreamland’s Adam D’Zurilla with encouraging him to further explore and expand upon those early song ideas. The end result is Goett’s latest project, the post punk/shoegaze act Blackout Transmission.
With the addition of Kevin Cluppert (bass) and Teenage’s Wrist’s Anthony Salazar (drums), the band’s lineup was solidified, and their sound and arrangements were fleshed out. Late last year, the members of Blackout Transmission started playing shows, developing and harnessing their live chemistry before they went to Long Beach-based Dream Machine Studio to record most of their Scott Holmes co-produced, eight song, full-length debut, Sparse Illumination. “Scott pushed me in the best way to reimagine elements of my approach” says Goett, “as such we captured the vibe and feel that I was seeking with these songs.”
As a result of pandemic-related restrictions and lockdowns, Goett was forced to finalize his overdubs at his home studio, Twin Dragon West, where he wound up writing and recording two of the album’s eight songs. Despite where the material was written and recorded, the end result is an album that finds the band crafting material that’s a seamless lysergic journey seemingly influenced by Echo and the Bunnymen, The Verve, and others.
Late last year, I wrote about Sparse Illumination‘s first single, the brooding and expansive “Portals,” a track centered round a sinuous bass line, thunderous drumming, swirling reverb and delay pedaled guitar that possessed the painterly and lysergic textures of The Verve’s A Storm in Heaven. The album’s second single “Heavy Circles,” continues a bit in the vein of its immediate predecessor — brooding and shimmering atmospherics paired with dramatic and forceful drumming; but while having the sort of dusty, desert road quality that reminds me of Starfish and Gold Afternoon Fix-era The Church.
Sparse Illumination is slated for a February 19, 2021 through Etxe Records.
Birmingham, UK-based multi-disciplinary artist, multi-instrumentalist and singer/songwriter Jess Webberely is the creative mastermind behind the rising solo recording project Graywave. Inspired by acts like Men I Trust, Slowdive, Crumb and Widowspeak, Webberley’s work pairs dreamy chords, shoegaze-like guitar leads and powerful vocals in an attempt to create music that makes you feel as though you were floating away to someplace else.
Since the release of Webberley’s debut single “Afternoon Escapism,” the Birmingham-based artist has played shows across the West Midlands region with Slow Crush, Petal, and VENUS –– with a live band that helps properly convey the project’s sound on stage. Adding to a growing profile, Webberley has played shows in Bristol — and “With Me,” which was released back in June, has received radio airplay, including Brum Radio A List and Coventry and Warwickshire BBC Introducing. The track has also seen positive reviews across the blogosphere.
Building upon a growing profile, Webberley will release her debut EP, the five track Planetary Shift, an effort that reportedly finds the Birmingham-based artist making a bold step forward in her songwriting and production. The EP’s first single “Like Heaven” is a slow-burning and brooding track, centered around layers of heavier and muscular guitars played through reverb and feeddback, thunderous drumming and a soaring hook paired with Webberley’s achingly plaintive vocals. Seemingly indebted to Slowdive and A Storm in Heaven-era The Verve, the song reveals a push towards a grittier and more forceful direction.
“‘Like Heaven’ is ultimately about the struggle of light and dark within oneself,” Webberley explains in press notes. “The lyrics aim to capture a sense of self destruction and a strange urge to self sabotage. The song is about that darker side of myself that pushes doubt and lack of self worth to the forefront.”
Singer/songwriter, guitarist and producer Christopher Goett may be best known for his work in Silo Halo. After a decade stint in Washington, DC. Goett returned to Los Angeles — and he quickly amassed a growing collection of songs. Interestingly, Goett credits his longtime friend, Sleepmask’s and Dreamland’s Adam D’Zurilla with encouraging him to further explore and expand upon those early song ideas. The end result is Goett’s latest project, the post punk/shoegaze act Blackout Transmission.
With the addition of Kevin Cluppert (bass) and Teenage’s Wrist’s Anthony Salazar (drums), the band’s lineup was solidified, and their sound and arrangements were fleshed out. Late last year, the members of Blackout Transmission slated playing live shows, developing and harnessing their live chemistry before they went to Long Beach-based Dream Machine Studio to record most of their Scott Holmes co-produced, eight song, full-length debut, Sparse Illumination. “Scott pushed me in the best way to reimagine elements of my approach” says Goett, “as such we captured the vibe and feel that I was seeking with these songs.”
As a result of pandemic-related restrictions and lockdowns, Goett was forced to finalize his overdubs at his home studio, Twin Dragon West — and where he wrote and recorded two of the album’s eight songs. Despite where the material was written and recorded, the end result is an album that finds the band crafting material that’s a seamless lysergic journey seemingly influenced by Echo and the Bunnymen, The Verve, and others.
Sparse Illumination‘s latest single is the brooding and expansive “Portals.” Centered around a sinuous bass line, thunderous drumming, swirling reverb and delay pedaled guitar and Goett’s lyrics offering meditations on space, time and love, “Portals” possesses the sort of painterly and lysergic textures of A Storm in Heaven but paired with a widescreen, cinematic quality.
Sparse Illumination slated for a February 19, 2021 through Etxe Records.
Initially founded in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico by Estrella del Sol Sanchez and Amor Amezcua, the Mexican shoegazer act quickly received international attention with the release of their debut EP Primeras Salidas, eventually playing sets across the North American festival circuit, including Coachella and SXSW, as well as venues across both the States and their native Mexico. Building upon a growing profile, Mint Field’s full-length debut, 2018’s Pasar De Las Luces found the act establishing a clearer sense of what they wanted to do sonically — primarily, as a result of finally having access to the tools to do so. The end result was an album’s worth of material that drew from dream pop, krautrock, stoner rock and shoegaze, imbued with sorrow and nostalgia.
The past couple of years since the release of Pasar De Las Luces has been rather eventful for the Mexican shoegazer act: they’ve toured extensively across the North America and the European Union, playing over 100 shows. Continuing that momentum, the band recorded Pasar De Las Luces’ follow-up, last year’s Mientras Esperas EP, which they supported with further touring across the States, Canada and Mexico — with two sold out shows in Mexico City .
During that same period, the band relocated to Mexico City and upon relocating to the Mexican capital, the band went through a massive lineup change: Amor Amezcua left the band, and the band then expanded into a trio with the addition of Sebastian Neyra and the band’s newest member, Ulrika Spacek’s Callum Brown. Capping off a series of monumental changes for the acclaimed Mexican act, they signed to Los Angeles-based post punk label Felte Records,
Slated for a September 25, 2020 release, the band’s Syd Kemp-produced sophomore album Sentimiento Mundial was recorded at London’s Wilton Way Studio, and the album reportedly sees the band’s sound shifting towards a decidedly minimal, rhythmically focused approach. The album will feature the meditative “Natural,” and the motorik groove-driven “Contingencia,” which were both released earlier this year. Sentimiento Mundal’s third and latest single “Delicadeza” is a lushly textured song centered around del Sol Sanchez’s ethereal vocals, swirling and shimmering, pedal effected guitars and propulsive drumming that manages to recall the lengthy introductory sections to Pink Floyd’s “Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts I-V)” and A Storm in Heaven-era The Verve– but while being fittingly delicate.
Directed and shot by 26 year-old Mexico City-based filmmaker Santiago Padilla Arouesty, the recently released video is a cinematic and meditative portrait of our zeitgeist — one in which our sanity, well-being and humanity are held together by an extremely delicate thread.
Earlier this year, I wrote about the Nashville-based indie rock act Twen. The act, which is led by founding members Jane Fitzsimmons (vocals) and Ian Jones (guitar) can trace their origins to their involvement in Boston’s DIY scene, and as you may recall, the duo since their formation have been actively been redefining what a touring band should be and should be in the streaming age. Initially releasing only a live EP recorded from the band’s live debut in a Boston basement, the band has toured non-stop, honing and perfecting a live show that’s been described by critics and fans alike as raw and mesmerizing.
Continuing to proudly ascribe to the DIY ethos that has influenced and sustained them, Twen’s core duo have run AirBNBs while touring, played in exchange for skydiving, screen printed self-designed merch items by hand and book their own tours. The duo emerged into the national scene with the release of their attention-grabbing single “Waste,” which received praise from the likes of NPR, Stereogum, Paste Magazine, BrooklynVegan, Uproxx, Under The Radar and others. Earlier this year, the duo opened for the acclaimed Louisville-based JOVM mainstays White Reaper — and they released the slow-burning and shoegazer-like “Holy River,” a track that to my ears would likely draw comparisons to classic 4AD Records, Cocteau Twins, Slowdive, A Storm in Heaven-era The Verve and Beach House — but with a yearning, dream-like quality that gives the ethereal track a subtle bit of emotional weight.
Building upon a growing profile, the buzz-worthy, Nashville-based duo will be releasing their full-length debut Awestruck through Frenchkiss Records on September 20, 2019. I also wrote about the album’s first official single “Baptism,” an atmospheric and shoegazer-like track centered around shimmering guitars, propulsive drumming, Jane Fitzsimmons’ enormous, room-filling vocals singing impressionistic lyrics full of a yearning desire to be born, becoming and re-born. The album’s latest single “Make Hard” is centered around jangling, reverb-soaked guitars, propulsive drumming and rousingly anthemic hook — and while bearing a bit of a resemblance to Fleetwood Mac, the song is rooted in lived-in, personal experience that gives the song an emotional weight.
“The song was rewritten and arranged very late in the recording process,” the band explained to DIY. “Another one of our earliest tunes, the second verse was a response to the growing pains we were going through at the time, transitioning from part-time rockers to full-time road warriors. The lyrics have come to symbolize the dynamics and relationships within a band as it grows, through the transformation of defined roles and how they change over time.”
The Nashville-based indie rock act Twen, led by founding members Jane Fitzsimmons (vocals) and Ian Jones (guitar) can trace their origins to when they formed while both were involved in Boston’s DIY scene. Since their formation several years ago, the band has been busy redefining what a touring band should do — and should be in the streaming age. Initially releasing nothing more than a live EP recorded fro the band’s live debut in a Boston basement, the band has toured non-stop, honing and perfecting a live show that’s been described as raw and mesmerizing.
Continuing to proudly ascribe to the DIY ethos that influenced them, Twen’s core duo have run AirBNBs while touring, played in exchange for skydiving, screen printed self-designed merch items by hand and book their own tours. Now, as you may recall, the duo quickly emerged into the national scene with the release of attention-grabbing single “Waste,” which received praise from the likes of NPR, Stereogum, Paste Magazine, BrooklynVegan, Uproxx, Under The Radar and others. Earlier this year, the duo opened for the acclaimed Louisville-based JOVM mainstays White Reaper — and they released the slow-burning and shoegazer-like “Holy River,” a track that to my ears would likely draw comparisons to classic 4AD Records, Cocteau Twins, Slowdive, A Storm in Heaven-era The Verve and Beach House — but with a yearning, dream-like quality that gives the ethereal track a subtle bit of emotional weight.
Building upon a growing profile, the buzz-worthy, Nashville-based duo will be releasing their full-length debut Awestruck through Frenchkiss Records on September 20, 2019. “Baptism,” the album’s first official single is an atmospheric bit of shoegaze centered around shimmering guitars, propulsive drumming, Jane Fitzsimmons’ enormous, room-filling vocals singing impressionistic lyrics full of a yearning desire to be born, becoming and re-born. Interestingly, Jones’ guitar lines actually is a revisited riff that he wrote as a teenager, that he reworked with a fresh perspective — essentially giving the song a trippy and anachronistic sensibility.
Led by founding members Jane Fitzsimmons (vocals) and Ian Jones (guitar), the Nashville-based indie rock act Twen can trace their origins to Boston’s DIY scene — and since their formation, the band has been busily redefining what a touring band should be and do in the streaming age. Having released nothing more than a live EP recorded from the band’s debut performance in a Boston basement, the band has been touring non-stop over the past couple of years, honing and perfecting a raw and mesmerizing live show.
Proudly ascribing to the DIY ethos, Twen’s core duo have run AirBNBs while touring, played in exchange for skydiving, screen printed self-designed merch items by hand and book their own tours. Interestingly, with the release of their proper debut single “Waste,” the Nashville-based duo quickly emerged into the national scene with praise from the likes of NPR, Stereogum, Paste Magazine, BrooklynVegan, Uproxx, Under The Radar and others — and they’ve managed book a tour, opening for acclaimed Louisville-based JOVM mainstays White Reaper. (You can check out the tour dates below. The tour will include a few headlining dates, including a June 20, 2019 stop at Union Pool.)
In the meantime, the duo’s latest single is the slow-burning and shoegazy “Holy River.” Centered around shimmering reverb-drenched guitar chords, propulsive drumming, a soaring hook and Fitzsimmons gorgeous and plaintive vocals, their latest single sonically speaking will most likely draw comparisons to 4AD Records heyday, Cocteau Twins, Slowdive, A Storm in Heaven-era The Verve, The Cranberries and Beach House — but with a yearning, dream-like quality that gives the ethereal track a subtle bit of emotional weight. Interestingly, the song as the duo share in press notes was written as an ode to their new hometown, upon their arrival from Boston.
Directed by the band’s Jen Fitzsimmons, the video which is set in an incredibly verdant forest possesses a fitting dream-like logic as we see a woman expressively dancing with a sheet and the members of Twen, observing and dancing in the background in red from head to toe. It’s a slow-burning fever dream of a visual that evokes the wildness of nature and of one’s own dreams.
