shoegaze
Album Review: Wylderness – Wylderness
Today sees the release of the debut self-titled by Welsh band, Wylderness. Riding the new wave of shoegaze (see what I did there?), there is no doubting the debt to Ride, but this is no carbon copy or pale pastiche. Veering away from dream pop tendencies, ‘Wylderness’ represents a more muscular guitar-driven variety, not afraid …
Album Review: Lowtide – Southern Mind
I don’t know whether Melbourne is becoming the shoegaze/dream pop capital of the Southern Hemisphere, but the release last month of Lowtide‘s sophomore album, ‘Southern Mind’ would be compelling evidence. Some of the best music is being produced in the southern capital and Lowtide are leading the pack. ‘Southern Mind’ is a stellar collection of …
Album Review: Stina Stjern – Kap Herschell
Norwegian artist, Stina Stjern, has just released a gorgeous album entitled ‘Kap Herschell’ that is an enigmatic, haunting masterpiece that seems to capture the Arctic chill of the north while offering a warm enveloping refuge. The album was mixed using unusual recording techniques where the tracks were taken apart, played through old cassette tapes and …
Track: Soft Science – Undone/I Don’t Know Why I Love You (The House of Love)
Californian shoegaze band Soft Science are releasing a double A side single on 16 April and it is a dream pop/shoegaze delight. First song, ‘Undone’ has intricate, layered dreamy pop vocals with a distinctive instrumentation that recalls My Bloody Valentine with the volume turned down. The song is a gorgeous, lush wall of sound, mesmerising …
See: Candace – Mendocino
One of our favourite dream pop outfits, Candace have just released a video for the song ‘Menocino’ off their brilliant album ‘New Ruins’ which Backseat Mafia reviewed recently, saying it combined ‘angelic harmonies with shimmering instrumentation throughout…drawing from elements of shoegaze and dream pop in a dreamy languorous mix, eschewing bombast and bravado for subtlety …
Album Review: Candace – New Ruins
Today sees the release of the quite frankly gorgeous album ‘New Ruins’ by Portland, Oregon band Candace. I reviewed the single ‘Rewind’ off the album recently, noting the song’s ‘sun-bleached layered harmonies over crisply produced crystalline shards of guitar, Alpine-proportioned melodies and a bass line that manages to serve the song yet create its own …
Album Review: Wild Meadows – Wild Meadows
The debut album from Melbourne’s Wild Meadows is, quite simply put, a promise delivered. Last year we enthusiastically reviewed their debut single ‘Feel the Noise’ and observed it was a ‘classic shoegaze anthem redolent with swirling vocals, waves of sparkling guitar and gob-smacking choruses grander than the Simpson Desert’. The self titled album – available …
Track: Hatchie – Sure (Robyn Guthrie Remix) and tour news
It was way back in June 2017 that our attention was grabbed by Brisbane songwriter Hatchie with her debut single ‘Try’, having just attracted a management deal and on the cusp of a global expansion. Now, only eight months later, Hatchie has been signed by highly respected Heavenly Recordings for UK/Europe and Double Double Whammy/Polyvinyl …
Track: Brooders – Lie
Leeds psych-grunge three piece Brooders have shared the first track from their upcoming 7″ release in the form of ‘Lie’. The bands Adam Bairstow says of the track “Lie has been a work in progress for a long time, it’s a culmination of the stresses and pressures that come with love, loss and paranoia all …
Track: Maff – Hawaii
Chile’s magnificent Maff are back with a new single off their forthcoming EP ‘Melaniña’ due for release in April. Entitled ‘Hawaii’, it is another blistering, hypnotic slice of shoegaze with pounding bass and drums with guitars and vocals that recall the magnificence of The Horrors: Brilliant stuff indeed. ‘Hawaii’ will be released on March 2 …