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Shoegaze

Therum etherealised existentialism in his psychedelic darkwave score,  Mirror of Stars

Posted on 3 November 2023

Therum searched for identity in the cosmos in the standout single, Mirror of Stars, from his psychedelic darkwave album, Darklines Within Us; in the process, he added a new ethereal trajectory to the evolution of existentialism.

Through croons, which call out into the void of the alien soundscape that would be on a plateau beyond our perception if it weren’t for the huge bass adding weight to the release, are resolvingly efficacious in their interstellar mission of drawing you right into the melancholic soul of the art rock Tour De Force.

If you have ever struggled to make sense of the material and social reality we’re confined to and feel an even greater sense of alienation when you try and situate yourself in the context of the twisted tapestry of existence, Mirror of Stars is proliferated with apt consolation.

VNV Nation once declared that this world is just an illusion trying to change you. Therum’s more astute observation of disillusion, duality, and the mind being as unchartered as the galaxy feels far more nuanced.

Mirror of Stars will be released as part of Therum’s LP, Darklines Within Us, on November 3rd. Stream it on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Space out with the rock-licked soul in Church Burglars’ kaleidoscope of psychedelic shoegaze, Fairy Tale Ending

Posted on 1 November 2023

If you take your rock classically cut with a twist of spacey psychedelia, explore the riff-carved cosmos in the standout single, Fairy Tale Ending, from Church Burglars’ debut album, Subconsciously Conscious.

With soaring riffs as strident as the licks orchestrated by Slash’s fair hands fused with the soul-lavished euphonic sensibilities of the Flaming Lips and Pink Floyd, Fairy Tale Ending is a prog-rock meditation on the highs and lows of diehard romanticism. The endlessly caressing vocal lines which have more in common with the Shoegaze pioneers than your average rock outfit draw you right into the gravity of the bitter-sweet release, which stands as a testament to the LA-based outfit’s determination to make real music for real people.

After the founding members met at Berklee College of Music in Boston shortly before the COVID pandemic, frontman Mike Foltz used the international live music breather to travel to LA to record the debut LP independently with the exception of a few lead guitar parts laid down by Alec Grugel. With the full line-up finalised, Church Burglars are making waves in the live circuit; grab any opportunity to see them in an intimate setting before you have to join legions of fans filing into arenas to witness the virtuosity of Foltz.

Fairy Tale Ending is available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

It’s all about the instrumental and mental breakdowns in Jeff from Work’s shoegazey grunge rap hit, Stand Up

Posted on 19 October 2023

Imagine the Beastie Boys augmenting their sound with the anthemics of Nirvana and accentuating the intricacies of the melodies with elements of post-punk, and you’ll almost envision the snarky sharp alchemy which bursts through every (instrumental and mental) breakdown in Jeff from Work’s seminal single, Stand Up, which also forcefully feeds nuances of the Smashing Pumpkins and Joy Division.

Taken from their concept LP, Overtime, which chronicles the oddities of the human experience through the eyes of Jeff, a ready-to-break slave to the rat race, the single is an exhilarant manifestation of rage, corporate disdain, shoegaze etherealism, and pure juggernautical experimentalism.

Their schtick starts to make all the more sense upon learning that the band formed after meeting at an LA ad agency and discovering they had more in common than their workplace angst. It’s an unlikely aural antihero story, but we’re here from it. They have exactly what it takes to become one of the biggest icons of the alternative scene in 2024.

Stream Overtime with the rest of the debut LP which dropped on October 5th on SoundCloud and Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

 

NTHN versed vulnerability for Mental Health Day in his shoegaze-hip-hop mash-up, The Meaning

Posted on 16 October 2023

For Mental Health Day, the UK songwriter, cloud sampler, and producer NTHN debuted his most introspective shoegaze and hip-hop-influenced track to date, The Meaning, on October 10 and subsequently delivered the most compellingly dark single of the year.

It has been a while since a rap track hit so hard it made an impact on my tear ducts, but NTHN’s command over evocative ambient melodies and the intimate vulnerability within the lyrics and delivery proved that there’s power in dragging your demons out of the closet and vanquishing them for all to hear.

Rather than keeping his sound solely in the hip-hop arena, NTHN uses hip-hop composition, sampling, and percussion around his influence from emo, shoegaze and metal genres to keep his sonic signature scribing authentically absorbing and always emotion-driven atmospheric alchemy.

“I started writing it when I was at my lowest and I am now releasing it when I’m much more in control of how I feel, and I am in a much better place. It’s my journey to accepting my own mental health issues and learning to live with them, not just exist, by looking for the meaning in the everyday. I would like to raise awareness of the need to speak out and, by sharing my vulnerability, hopefully, connect with listeners who might be able to use the track as a way of relating to how I feel and not feeling so alone in dealing with things.”

The Meaning is now available to stream on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Pomaa – Wide Eyed: Painfully Sober, Sonically Celestial Indie Dream Pop

Posted on 11 October 2023

With a transfixingly astral vocal register layering harmonies over the retro reverb-swathed synths, Pomaa’s latest single, Wide Eyed, bridges the gap between Siouxsie and the Banshees and cutting-edge outfits in the vein of Wolf Alice and Desperate Journalist while allowing you to linger in a kaleidoscope of dreamy psych-pop tones.

From the first immersion, the artist’s unique talents in blending the spirit of her own hypnotically authentic expression with the mixer of era-spanning signatures from shoegaze, post-punk, psych, pop and indie to pour the perfect sonic mocktail becomes immediately apparent.

Through Wide Eyed, Pomaa narrates the isolation of being the only sober person at a party; starved of connection and wracked with unshakable sensations which embed the loneliness of growing at a different pace to everyone around you.

Wide Eyed will be available to stream on all major platforms from October 11; stream it on Spotify & SoundCloud. If you like what you hear, stay tuned for the release of her debut EP, Bridge to Somewhere, which will drop on November 15.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

All isn’t fair in love and war in millar’s indie alt-electro-pop single, hunting ground

Posted on 12 September 2023

By drawing parallels between blood sports and romanticism in her indie alt-electro-pop single, hunting ground, the up-and-coming London-based singer-songwriter, millar, delivered a striking exposition of how nothing is fair in love and war when unsuspecting diehard romantics are forced to play by the rules of mind games.

As the atmospheric space progressively shifts from light to dark in the same vein as The Neighbourhood, Cigarettes After Sex and Perfume Genius around the strikingly angular indie guitar work which bears reminiscences to Slowdive and the driving backbeat that gives the single a punchily vindicating energy, hunting ground, is one of the most stunning UK indie tracks to spill up from the underground in 2023.

We can’t wait to hear where millar’s candour and inexplicable talents in euphonically visualising melancholy take her next.

hunting ground was officially released on September 1st; stream it now on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Laney Ryan visualised an indie-folk dream for her latest single, This Path

Posted on 5 September 2023

‘This Path’ is the latest dreamy indie-folk single from the Boston-based singer-songwriter Laney Ryan, whose superlative ethereal atmospheres are always haunted by soulful possession.

With This Path, she delivered the reminder that what is lost will always be found; regardless of how lost and directionless you feel on your path, if you are moving forward, you will always find a way to find your way. The lush with choral reverb shoegaze guitars and the desert folk rhythm section create a captivating soundscape to contemplate the trajectory of your own journey while Ryan’s vocals deliver all of the assuring sanctity you could expect to soak up from a single.

Even though she sounds right at home in her indie folk sound, as a teen, Ryan had heavier music tastes; she eventually joined the LA alt-rock band The Brink, which became well-known in the Hollywood touring circuit. After five years of crafting high-octane hits, Ryan moved back to her hometown and started experimenting with a more acoustic sound that rings through in her contemporary material.

This Path will hit the airwaves on September 5; stream it on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Bathe in the shimmering catharsis of whitewood drive’s distorted Tour De Force, cosmic hero

Posted on 1 September 2023
whitewood drive

While shoegaze bands that can cut through the derivative reverb-drenched tones don’t come around all too often in this era, whitewood drive proved that there are still creative ways to push through the washed-out choral distortion with their latest mellifluous-with-malaise single, cosmic hero.

By emanating the darkness of Bauhaus and following the Vapour Trail laid out by Ride, the Connecticut-hailing three-piece succeeded in crafting a single that lends itself well to the traditionalism of the genre while ensuring you have a reason to turn your attention away from your MBV and Slowdive records. The intricately evocative single may stir plaintive emotions, but the accordance lets you bathe in shimmering catharsis in the next breath. It’s a stunning release that harbingers even greater tonal triumphs to come.

cosmic hero is due for official release on September 1st; stream it on Spotify or download the track on Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Holy Gloam borrowed from Dinosaur Jr in their melancholic shoegaze serenade, Used for Falling

Posted on 15 July 2023

Making an authentic mark on the Shoegaze landscape where so many chorally dissonant signatures have been scribed is no easy feat; Holy Gloam succeeded all the same with their latest single, Used for Falling.

The vulnerable vocal lines become the soft sonic underbelly of the sludged-to-the-nines single, which uses clamorously effect-laden guitars to visualise the rancorous paths of descent our minds can take us down and sweeten the vocal harmonies in texturally sublime contrast. Sharpening the teeth of the melancholy is lyrical diehard romanticism, which paints a portrait of unconditional affection which distance and disconnection can’t diminish.

With their ability to invite their listeners into such evocatively compelling soundscapes which play the heartstrings as intricately and intimately as the guitars, the North Wales/NW England five-piece clearly have a bright future ahead of them. They have already been making major waves since songwriter Julian Neale founded the outfit in 2021; they’ve become staples in the NW touring circuit and their debut album, Small Nothings, was longlisted by Welsh Music Prize. Watch this space for more major moves from the scintillating evocateurs.

Used for Falling was officially released on July 7th; stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

 

Foreign Saints is sonorously spectral in their debut shoegaze single, Here With Me

Posted on 11 July 2023

If you placed yourself in the middle ground of Elliott Smith and Slowdive, you would be in good company with the sonorously spectral debut single, Here With Me, from Foreign Saints.

With a slice of psychedelia written into the indie pop songwriting chops, Here With Me unravels as a hazy kaleidoscope of wistful colour. As the lyrics allude to what’s lost through time and distance, the dreamy instrumentals envelop you in their reverb-swathed cathartic tonality.

The bedroom pop project from the Brooklyn-based musician, Thomas Roberts, may not be far past its inception, but Roberts is already proving himself to be an unreckonable resonant force. Fans of The Japanese House, War on Drugs, and Day Wave won’t want to let the project slip them by, especially with the debut EP in the pipeline.

Here With Me is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast