Julee Cruise – Queen City Sounds and Art

Mimi Pretend Consoles the Bruised Hearted in the Loving, Late Night Dream Pop Melodies of “Smith Lake”

Mimi Pretend taps into a similar emotional realm of melancholic nostalgia and hazy melodies as Chromatics and Julee Cruise on “Smith Lake.” The atmospheric low end of the bass grounds what is otherwise a fairly ethereal song but so do the lyrics that seem to be about someone who is a lost soul in the world who feels unloved by his mother being consoled by someone who does love him. Fluttering, softly distorted guitar haunts the edges of the song alongside sparkling tones that conjure images of late night conversations interrupted by shooting stars and distant sounds of the road. The imagery of the song probably represents the kind of people many of us know who bother to pay attention to what’s going on with people beyond the obvious but which isn’t too well hidden of emotional trauma and acting out trying to find love and acceptance somewhere not really knowing how and not trusting it when it presents itself in your life. All because of the rejections and low key, or not so subtle, gaslighting and emotional abuse most of us have received at some point along the way because how many people really come from a completely healthy family dynamic? Some people seem to take it harder than others and/or the hurt is deeper and more consistent. This song is a gentle touch in counterpoint to those ways of being and relating to others. It’s a loving tribute to a loved one cast in pastoral dream pop that lingers with you throughout the song and long after. Listen to “Smith Lake” on Spotify and follow Mimi Pretend at the links below. The project’s new EP Colorado 1996 released on January 5, 2024. For fans of the aforementioned as well as Mazzy Star and Low.

Mimi Pretend on Facebook

Mimi Pretend on TikTok

Mimi Pretend on Instagram

Crystal Canyon’s Tenderly Melancholic “Sierra” is a Shoegaze Tribute to the Late, Great Julee Cruise

Crystal Canyon, photo courtesy the artists

“Sierra” is Crystal Canyon’s tribute to Julee Cruise “which guitarist/vocalist Lynda Mandolyn says is, ‘me having a conversation with her spirit, dreamlike.’” And the song’s drifting and hazy atmospheres and processional pace with guitar sounds trailing off like an early morning fog in the sunrise. The drum accents hit perfectly to punctuate the paces and Mandolyn’s introspective vocals relate late night meditations on heartache and heartbreak and processing the flood of feelings in a way that won’t hit as hard even if they hit deeply. The way the song gently unfolds and repeats the themes with a hypnotic quality will appeal to fans of Slowdive’s unorthodox crafting of melody and mood as well. Listen to “Sierra” on YouTube and follow Portland, Maine’s Crystal Canyon at the links below. The group’s new album Stars and Distant Light was released November 3, 2023 on streaming, download and vinyl.

Crystal Canyon on Instagram

“Hailey Moon” is moondaddy’s Lush and Vulnerable Dream Pop Song of Overcoming Personal Trauma

There’s something deeply mysterious about the way Cara Potiker arranges the layers of evocative atmospheres across her new album Poet Lies. Take for example the lead single “Hailey Moon.” Without overtly hazy elements the synths flow effortlessly together to enshroud her sultry vocals in a dreamlike resonance. Slowly rising and falling drones and sparkling synth blossoming and fading over a steady beat that never seems to direct the pace but marks the time. All while Potiker seems to sing about tentatively opening up to someone in spite of one’s own flaws and weaknesses that one has had to harbor from other people for an extended period of time and how even exposing these things to anyone outside of your own head can be perilous because many if not most people lack the sensitivity and grace to respect vulnerability and trauma in a productive manner. But in this song Potiker appears to acknowledge that those “scars” and fears that one might think one has hidden from other people can be challenging or impossible to completely conceal and that maybe it might be better to operate knowing that to be the case and accept the possibility and perhaps inevitability of being hurt and even to be understood but that taking that risk might be the first step in getting to a place of greater personal strength. The gorgeous and cool luminosity of the composition of this song places it in the realm of shoegaze and dream pop but also emotionally in those psychic spaces that Julee Cruise expressed so well in her own dark pop confections of regret, resignation, despair and hope. Listen to “Hailey Moon” on YouTube and follow moondaddy at the links below. Poet Lies released via Volar Records on August 18, 2023.

moondaddy on Instagram

Toronto Shoegazers Away Forward Perfectly Meld Deft Songwriting With Expert Soundscaping on the Transporting “Written Answers”

Away Forward, photo courtesy the artists

“Written Answers” finds Toronto’s Away Forward channeling a bit of C86, chime-y guitar tunefulness, the intricate, interlocking simple guitar work one hears in 90s shoegaze rock and the dusky nostalgic tones of Julee Cruise. The way the song turns on beautifully executed minor chord progressions and then blossoms into transporting melodies is especially evocative. The band doesn’t find a groove and ride it into affinity. No, its songwriting and gift for dynamic shifts and the emotional impact of not filling in all available space with all sounds in its sonic palette gives the song with a familiar feel and comforting swirls of atmosphere a repeated lisenability. In that way it’s reminiscent of early material from The Sundays but brimming with Slowdive’s penchant for drawing you into a mood of deep introspection and reverie only possible when a band is able to perfectly meld deft songwriting with expert soundscaping. Listen to “Written Answers” on Soundcloud, connect with Away Forward at the links provided and give a listen to the group’s 2020 album Catching The Sun on the project’s Bandcamp page.

https://awayforward.bandcamp.comhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82g3eEsrA_Q&feature=youtu.behttps://open.spotify.com/artist/4BcsQpPjA7156SOdDcQZ6z?si=VBl-oc8YTfyyRRboJ6g_Ug