shoegaze
Premiere: We get a sneaky early listen to Nik Brinkman’s ‘Unplugged’ EP – three magnificently raw gems from last year’s epic ‘Secret Stairs’ album.
Last year’s ‘Secret Stairs’ album from New Zealand’s Nik Brinkman was a highlight of the year – in our 9.1/10 review we said it was a stunning debut: a collection of sparkling jewels that glitter with a melancholic sheen, while featuring glorious pop vignettes delivering melody and an ethereal grace. We are very honoured to …
Premiere: NYC’s London Plane exclusively unveil the epic and anthemic title track to their forthcoming album ‘Bright Black’.
NYC’s London Plane have exclusively unveiled to Backseat Mafia the scaling, anthemic title track to their forthcoming album ‘Bight Black’, out through Declared Goods on 17 June 2022. The track, available on Wednesday, 20 April 2022, is an exciting post-punk, new wave influenced slice of gothic-tinged pie, replete with scything, mountainous guitars and a thunderous, …
News: LA outfit Launder announces debut album and releases two sparkling dreamy shoegaze singles, ‘Unwound’ and ‘Chipper’, co-written with DIIV members.
Dripping with incandescent reverb, walls of scything guitars and layers of glorious harmonies, Launder has just released dynamic double singles ‘Unwound’ and ‘Chipper’ ahead of the release of debut album ‘Happening’ out on 15 July 2022 through Ghostly International (Hana Vu, Gold Panda, Tycho). Launder is essentially the work of John Cudlip, with collaborations on …
News: Legends Elizabeth Fraser (Cocteau Twins) and Damon Reece (Massive Attack) announce new collaboration Sun’s Signature and unveil the shimmering single ‘Golden Air’
Today, vocalist Elizabeth Fraser and percussionist Damon Reece have announced their newest project – Sun’s Signature which will release a 5-song EP out physically on 18 June 2022 via Partisan Records for Record Store Day, with a digital release following a few weeks later in July. To coincide with the announcement, the life and musical …
Track: Chicago’s Horsegirl fuzz their way back into our grateful ears with the melodic shimmer of ‘World of Pots And Pans’, and unveil US and European tour dates.
Fast becoming one of my favourite outfits, the inestimably cool and unlimitedly suave Horsegirl have just released another laid back fuzzy pop single ‘World of Pots and Pans’. Complete with a lyrical nod to The Jesus and Mary Chain, this band is releasing some of the most satisfyingly scuzzy pop material that positively shines with …
Track: Perth’s Lo unveils the stately, anthemic slice of jangle pop of single ‘Giver, Lover, Pet’.
‘Giver, Lover, Pet’, the new single from Perth’s Lo, is a pulse-quickening slice of jangling dream pop that enthralls and captivates. Recalling her fellow Australian, Hatchie, the single has mountainous choruses and guitars that shimmer and sparkle like sunlight dancing off the glittering Western Australian waters. Pure driven pop and a hint of deep melancholy …
Track: Christchurch’s T.G. Shand is back to transfix us with her mesmerising lush sounds in new track ‘Little Sieve’.
Ōtautahi/Christchurch resident Annemarie Duff, formerly of the legendary Melbourne shoegaze band Miniatures (on the iconic Saint Marie Records label) sends out the most delightful sonic missives in the name of T.G. Shand. We here at Backseat Mafia have been transfixed by her stream of jangling, sparkling singles over the past year (‘The Ease‘, ‘Lemony‘ and ‘Seats‘). Her new single …
EP: Auckland’s Silk Cut shape out another elegant dream pop delight in new EP ‘panda’.
Last year’s ‘astronaut’, the debut EP from New Zealand’s enigmatic Silk Cut (reviewed by me here) was a hazy dreamy introduction to a band that has, amongst its constituent members, a breadth of experience. Singer/guitarist Andrew Thorne has played with Modern Chair – a collaboration between him and another veteran of the NZ music scene, Wayne Bell. …
EP: Grids/Units/Planes unveil the heady and mesmerising electronica of ‘Diverge And Coalesce’
The sounds of Brisbane project Grids/Units/Planes (GUP) are that of a cloudy, diffuse space that glitches and hums in a languorous rich texture: awe-inspiring and transfixing. I have always thought that the magic in effective instrumental music is the ability to tell stories and create images without words, and in ‘Diverge and Coalesce’, GUP have …
News: Dreamy popster Annie Hamilton announces debut album with release of the hypnotic and psychedelic ‘Night Off’ as well as dates in Europe.
A psychedelic fugue permeates the sparkling new single ‘Night Off’ from multi-talented Australian musician, visual artist and fashion designer Annie Hamilton. It comes as a tasty appetiser for Hamilton’s newly announced debut album ‘the future is here but it feels kinda like the past’, out on 20 May 2022 through [PIAS] Australia. Our ears were turned …