The sun always shines brighter and the general misery of the world dissipates somehow when there is new material from the luminescent Fazerdaze (the nom de plume of Amelia Murray).
Fazerdaze has just unveiled a new single, ‘Motorway’, out through Buttrfly/Virgin Music Group, a track that is delivered over fuzzy driving insistent guitars before heavenly synths drift in and out and a motorik beat emulates the drone of rubber on tarmac. The track is infused with a delicate melancholy as Fazerdaze sees the motorway as a palimpsest for alienation and separation from a love: both a path home and a path to the unknown, filled with the detritus of life:
Oh this motorway weaves itself under me
the city’s harder to leave now that we’ve grown close
the sky that once was so endless sits closer than ever
thought it’d swallow me up instead its holding me close
I made a compromise for a quieter life, for a happier mind
instead I’m just feeling old
It is like a sonic version of a Nicolas Winding Refn film: darkness pieced by neon lights on a midnight ride with an ethereal, deliciously discombobulated tone like when you wake up from a deep afternoon sleep and forget who you are. Murray says the track was written from:
…a feeling of being trapped between a city and a relationship, searching for home in both, but finding it in neither. It explores an enmeshment with familiarity; and the motorway becoming a symbol of that for me; repetitive, a loop to break out of, a false sense of freedom.
It’s another epic slice of heavenly music from Fazerdaze:
‘Motorway’ is out now through the esteemed Buttrfly Records and Virgin Music Group and can be downloaded and streamed through the link above and here.
This follows her magnificent album ‘Soft Power’ released late last year – see my review here.
The track arrives alongside the announcement of five US headline shows, including performances at the El Rey in Los Angeles (Aug 23) and Bowery Ballroom in NYC (Sept 21). Full routing below, which includes existing dates supporting Pixies and Spoon.
Fazerdaze 2025 US tour dates w/ Pixies + Spoon:
August 23 – El Rey – Los Angeles, CA – headline
August 27 – Gallagher Square – San Diego, CA
August 28 – Greek Theatre – Berkeley, CA
August 30 – McMenamins Edgefield – Troutdale, OR
August 31 – Kettlehouse Amphitheatre – Bonner, MT
September 2 – Red Rocks Amphitheatre – Denver, CO
September 4 – Zoo Amphitheatre – Oklahoma City, OK
September 5 – Moody Amphitheater – Austin, TX
September 6 – White Oak Music Hall – Houston, TX
September 8 – Avondale Brewing Company – Birmingham, AL
September 9 – Red Hat Amphitheater – Raleigh, NC
September 10 – Asheville Yards – Asheville, NC
September 12 – Stage AE – Pittsburgh, PA
September 15 – Salt Shed – Chicago, IL
September 16 – Stifel Theatre – St. Louis, MO
September 17 – The Pinnacle – Nashville, TN
September 19 – Johnny Brenda’s – Philadelphia, PA – headline
September 20 – The Atlantis – Washington, DC – headline
September 21 – Bowery Ballroom – New York, NY – headline
September 23 – The Rockwell – Boston, MA – headline
Feature Photograph: Frances Carter
