dream pop
Track: The Rosie Varela Project debuts luscious shoegaze track ‘Low’
Rosie Varela is the singer, songwriter and guitarist for the brilliant Texan shoegaze outfit Eep (whose single ‘Hogar’ I raved about last year). She has now branched out as The Rosie Varela Project (RVP) and released the first of a slough of singles in anticipation of an album later this year. And ‘Low’ clearly puts …
Track: Brisbane’s highly talented musician RINSE unleashes dream pop perfection in track ‘Tamarynd (Wherever I am)’
RINSE is the solo work of Joe Agius, a central and compelling figure in the hyperactive and vibrant Brisbane musical scene. A collaborator with Hatchie (a firm Backseat Mafia favourite), Agius has just released the magnificent single ‘Tamarynd (Wherever I am)’ from his forthcoming debut EP, ‘Wherever I Am’ out 5 March 2021. In a …
Track: Brigitte Bardini releases evocative dream pop single ‘Wild Ride’
Hailing from that creative hotspot of Melbourne, Brigitte Bardini has released an enormously impressive dreamy single, ‘Wild Ride’, created almost entirely by herself in the confines of her home studio. Another byproduct of the explosion of creativity inspired by the travails of last year, perhaps, but nonetheless a wholly impressive track filled with sparkle and …
TRACK: Graywave – ‘Before’: shoegaze nocturne teases for EP
JUST before Christmas, Backseat Mafia had the absolute privilege of premiering “Like Heaven”, a brilliant surge of dream pop haze and melody from Graywave, the musical project of the West Midlands’ Jess Webberley. We’ll let you into a little secret: she’s a bit ace. Jess is shaping for the release of Graywave’s debut EP, Planetary …
Album Review: The Raft releases the shimmering and dreamy album ‘Summerheads and Winter Beds’
The consistently elegant and ethereal beauty of The Raft shines brightly in the new album ‘Summerheads and Winter Beds’: a collection of shimmering incandescent tracks that burn brightly. And we know, that which burns brightly lasts half as long: the album is over before you know it and you just want it to keep going …
Track: Heligoland triumphantly return with dreamy new track ‘Palomino’ and announce album ‘This Quiet Fire’
It’s been three years since the magnificent Heligoland released the divine EP ‘Coriallo’, a swooning collection of ambient dream pop tracks mixed and produced by the legendary Robyn Guthrie (Cocteau Twins) (read my review here). There is no better way to begin the new year than with the release of a new track and news …
PREMIERE: Graywave – ‘Like Heaven’: surging, solo dreampop beauty
GRAYWAVE is the upcoming one-woman musical project of Jess Webberley who, after being a member of various other bands, decided to strike out with her own collaboratively untainted version of what a cracking dream pop aesthetic might be. She followed her instincts; and a listen to the track we’re premiering here today, “Like Heaven”, and …
Track: The Besnard Lakes – Raindrops plus album news
The new single from Canadian band The Besnard Lakes is nothing short of magnificent. It has all the euphoria and pulse-racing joy you find in the works of bands like Sigur Ros, with Beach Boys/The Mamas and the Papas harmonies and a dream-like psychedelic shimmer reminiscent of The Verve or The Cocteau Twins. According to …
Album Review: Underground Lovers release surprise remix collection ‘Shadows’
Spanning their entire thirty career, the new collection of remixes from the legendary Underground Lovers is utterly sublime. It goes without saying that the flesh of a remix is only as good as the bones it is built on, and with the Underground Lovers you are assured that the foundations are phenominal. Many of the …
EP REVIEW: Pam Risourié – ‘Noctessa’
Noctessa is a shimmering and sonically diverse EP, playing out where dream pop meets blackgaze