Just prior to heading out on tour with Modern English (sadly no European dates) shoegaze pioneers THe Veldt have released their new EP ‘Thanks to the Moth and Areanna Rose’ via U.S. label sonaBLAST! Records. At its core, the band are identical twins Daniel Chavis (vocals, guitar) and Danny Chavis (guitar), along with Hayato Nakao (bass) and Marvin Levi (drums), and are one of the only bands from that first wave of Shoegaze that haven’t been on haitus or reformed.
The new EP features contributions from two 4AD music legends of the dreampop and shoegaze world: a remix by A.R.Kane and production by Robin Guthrie. It opens with ‘The Color of love is blue’, that highlights the bands sound – chiming Cocteau like guitars, Daniels angelic falsetto draping itself over the rest of the band, and this ebb and flow, wall of sound that invariably takes your breath away. Follow on ‘Black and Blue’, is noisier, more urgent but still seems to flutter with intimacy and delicacy, despite the depth of the accompaniment.
Fit to be tired is a more stripped back, poppier affair at its outset, before the guitars gradually take over, while Camus introduces elements of trip-hop into the fray, tempered with this guitar line with blisters and edges its way in. Dakini again sees the guitar come to the fore, Chavis vocals once more showcasing the bands ability to use melody (and explaining why their longevity). The EP finishes with the A.R. Kane remix of ‘I like you to tell’ which flits and hints at a multitude of styles and genres, while still being unmistakably ‘The Veldt’.
Check out the EP in full, here
