Chris and Dexy Valentine are California based Magic Wands, a duo dealing in dreamy and shadowy shoegaze. Their latest single “Hide” has been released on Metropolis Records. Gosh, this is a throwback to the 90s with the glorious dark shoegaze of acts like Lush and Curve, both vocally and with those swirling, shimmering guitars. You ..read more

Norway’s Mayflower Madame is back with a new single called “Paint It All in Blue.” This is the second single off the yet to be released new album, Insight, out on the Night Cult Records label. Photo by Astrid Serck Looking at the cover, there is a hand with a wedding ring and the lyrics most definitely allude to a relationship where someone has given everything to another and it hasn’t been a healthy partnership. Their signature dark and heavy bass is present with the flowing dreamgaze guitars. The vocals reverberate sublimely as we are drawn into the song. It is interesting that hands seem t ..read more

Baltimore band, Talking To Shadows, is sceduled to drop a new EP, in June called Lost and May the 12th, saw the release of the single “Soma“, off said EP. There are periods between that are in hushed reverence for the whispered female vocals, before the drums come crashing through, thunderous when the languid guitar changes mode to join the guitar. All the while, the vocals wave their way between causing goosebumps Soma is Latin, and its literal meaning is body, and this is an ode to how love eff3ects every fibre. The shoegaze style is reminicent of Lush or Curve, and as you can rightly imag ..read more

4000 Records is a label in Brisbane/Meanjin, championing local acts, and one of their latest releases is from fhae. Ellena Ramsay is fhae, and the album sombre thorax, an ambient folk and experimental offering. Photo by Amber Ramsey The first track “soul” is hazy and almost a religious experience that floats with the vocals not necessarily the focus but rather an added tone that stirs within your chest. There is the gentle guitar in “body” strumming in a soundscape of echoes or the mellow, yet ghost like “drain” that slowly trickles past your senses. The track “love you” is simply electrifyin ..read more

“Burning Building” is the latest single from Lucy Kruger & The Lost Boys, out on Unique Records / Schubert Music Europe GmbH. Kruger was born and raised in South Africa but now calls Berlin home, and the creation of the single is a very international affair with the recording done in Berlin, the mixing in Cape Town and the mastering in Brussels. Photo by Holger Nitschke The music very much gives you the impression of a stalking cat on the prowl, looking for a cat’s paw, a plaything, while everything around them perishes, but that isn’t their concern. The angular guitars and jaunty rhythm w ..read more

The Yets are the dream pop duo, Robin Wilson (vocals, keyboards, lyrics), and Craig Anderson Snook (guitar, everything else), who are based in South Carolina Their self-titled debut EP has given us the new single, “A Letter To A Boy“. In a different era, before social media and text messages, one often wrote long letters of love. The wistful and dreamy guitar jangle echo’s back in time, while the vocals sweetly give you an insight into her heart and how much this boy means to her as a mother. The keyboards are an understated accomplice to the beautiful guitar flourishes, as Wilson reminds the ..read more

From Paimio, Finland, Eenian Dreams are beckoning you with their newest single, “Beacons (chroma null)“, released on September the 1st. Pauliina (vocals) and T. C. Newman (synths, producing) are the duo that make up this electronic project, founded in 2021. There is anticipation at the start to see where the piano style goes to and then we aren’t disappointed. Pauliina’s vocals are electronically contorted though this seems to fit the ambiance of the track. There is such pain in the lyrics, a sadness that consumes all in its wake, a promise that there is a point of no turning back. The electr ..read more

Beauty In Chaos, as a gothic/dark alternate group, has some pretty heavy hitters in the music scene that are members, with Michael Ciravolo as the focal band mate. From this year’s album release, Behind The Veil, the band have dropped the single “Afterlife“, which features Ciravolo’s wife, Tish on vocals and she also wrote the lyrics for this track. The band on this single consists of Michael Ciravolo (guitars and textures), Michael Rozon (bass, synth and drum programming), Dirk Doucette (live drums) and Adrienne LaVey (operatic voice). The guitars are somber and withdrawn, whilst the synths ..read more

If you are old enough or a devotee to the 4AD label, the name Robin Guthrie brings up memories of dreamy guitars and iconic melodies due to being a driving force of the eternally beautiful Cocteau Twins. Since the end of Cocteau, Scottish born Guthrie has still been involved in the music scene with solo projects and working with other artists. Now based in France, he released the EP, Mockingbird Love on October the 15th, 2021. ROBIN GUTHRIE There are four instrumental tracks, which starts with “Copper“. Slow, near sensual piano strokes, whilst eventually the guitar chimes in. It is unhurried a ..read more