Adam Cresswell (vocals, bass), Nat Guest (drums), Martin J Langthorne (guitars) and Adrian Taylor (guitars) make up UK dark shoegaze band Cloud Studies, who came into being back in 2024. They have released their second single “Cloud Cartography,” out on HappyRobotRecords.
PHOTO BY ALISON AHERN
The world just comes alive between those guitars and keyboard, full of sonic joy. Having a proper drummer creates a wonderful symmetry when it comes to shoegaze bands. The sonorous vocals are hazy and dreamlike, set on an equal level as the instruments. All the while there are tiny squeals of feedback intermittently piercing the track.
“CloudCartography” was written after visiting Derryveagh Mountains in Ireland, and turned into a story about two humans trying to map clouds, which is kind of a metaphor for life. No matter how hard we try, there is no confirmed map or even permanence, for just like clouds, we are in perpetual motion, blown on the whim of the wind. My favourite shoegaze band of all time is Ride and this track would easily sit in the earlier phase of Gardner and Co. CloudStudies’ “CloudCartography” is sonically pleasing between the guitar feedback and jangle, with vocals taking you on a vapour trail adventure.
Some of my favourite bands are based in the ephemeral shoegaze sound, and I am going to thrust before you Talking to Shadows, a four piece from Baltimore, who Onyx last reviewed when they released the single “Soma.” Band members, Cat, Ron, Greg and Alex, dropped the single “Valentina” on the 26th of June.
If you haven’t had a chance to listen to Cat’s singing, then you are missing out. Smooth and evocative, that only enhances the dreamlike quality, swirling around your ears along with the guitars. There is that wall of guitar noise that lifts you up and takes you away….all of it wrenching a little at your heart.
It would be a shame to try and dissect the lyrics, which have both a visceral pain and at the same time utterly poetic, meaning you should just sit back and just lose yourself in the dark depths of that which is “Valentina.” Cat and the lads are influenced by possibly the most wonderful dreamy guitar group ever in CocteauTwins and it shows. No, they aren’t LizFraser and Co., but then I would be disappointed if they were a carbon copy, and this is TalkingtoShadows making their own beautiful music.
SignalsFromTheSun is the debut album for American duo, CraigDouglas and MichaelGoldberg, collectively known as SonumUnum, a dreampop project. You know they have to be something incredible when they have been signed to the NegativeGain label on the strength of the first track, but also having the mastering done by RobRobinson of KervorkianDeathCycle fame. With that in mind, we thought it was time to speak to CraigDouglas for the low down on SonumUnum.
Welcome to Onyx Sonum Unum, where we are hungry like the wolf for music.
First of all, what does the band name, Sonum Unum mean, if anything at all?
Craig: It means “One Sound” in Latin.
The band is made up of you, Craig Douglas and Michael Goldberg, with both of you being multi-instrumentalists. Has this been a long term friendship and have you created music together previously?
Craig: Mike and I met via a Craigslist ad in 2023 so this is all very new for us.
Where are you both based and what music projects have you been involved in?
Craig: I live in western, MA and I have been in a number of projects that range in style throughout the years. I currently have a solo project where I record and play shows under the moniker “Neonach” doing experimental vocal ambient drone and improv. I also recorded two albums under that name that are sort of ethereal and progressive rock formulated.
Both of you were swapping computer files over the winter of 22/23. Did this just start out as a clear idea of a band you wanted to create or did it just seem to evolve into something that just really worked?
Craig: The original intention was to make ambient music with super ethereal vocals. We wrote one track “Holding On Forever” which is the last song on the album. We were aiming for that type of sound but things evolved and got more dynamic as we wrote more tracks.
Who does what on the album?
Craig: We both contributed heavily to the music and arrangements, whether it was Mike writing something musically and sending it to me to arrange and add things or me sending him some synth structures to write instrumentation around. I am the vocalist on the album but Mike does sing lead on two tracks, “Snow Days” & “Know It All”.
The end result is the synthpop, ten track album “Signals From The Sun,” yet there actually isn’t a track on the album with that name. Is the name a reference to the idea that there is something bigger than us out there or something else?
Craig: I sort of had a concept for the artwork before we had a title. These sort of triangular waves beaming out from the sun. Our first track “Rescue” has a lyric that goes, “The lost will follow signals from the sun” so putting the visual element of that and the art together it seemed like a fitting title.
There is a lot of harmonization on the tracks, giving them a very warm feel. Was this a conscious thing and do you think it was influenced by the cold weather?
Craig: I appreciate the perspective of associating it with cold weather…but no… it has always been ingrained in me as a singer to incorporate vocal harmonies in all of the songs I’ve written. I always found harmony makes a song more interesting and keeps listeners a bit more engaged. I don’t think you will ever hear a track I sing on without some type of harmony.
Do you have a favourite track off the album, and if so which one and why?
Craig: I like them all but if I had to choose I think I would pick “Misinteraction”. It was the quickest song we wrote together and I am quite proud of the results.
You both are producers, and in fact, both of you produced “Signals From The Sun”, so how hard was it to agree on the production values?
Craig: I found working with Mike has been incredibly easy. Like most bands there are disagreements or opinions that clash. We had a few of those probably but overall we tend to work well together. I trust Mike entirely with mixing our material because I think he is a much more proficient producer than I am in that regard. I am more into the arrangement side of producing.
The mastering was done by Rob Robinson of Kervorkian Death Cycle, which is beautifully done. How did you get Robinson involved?
Craig: Big thanks to Micah and Roger from our label Negative Gain for getting Rob connected with us. Rob is an incredibly sweet guy and was so easy to work with. I agree he did a beautiful job.
Your debut has been released on the mighty Negative Gain label. What has that been like?
Craig: It’s been incredible. Micah and Roger heard one demo we uploaded to Bandcamp and they immediately reached out telling us they wanted to hear more from us. They were there following us every step of the way through the creation of this album and I am so grateful for that because I think that motivation helped us. We are so appreciative of them and their support for us. I’ve always wanted that from a label and Negative Gain absolutely delivers.
What are the bands/acts that brought you into the music fold?
Craig: My early days bands like Voivod, Fates Warning and Vangelis. My later years The Cure, Cocteau Twins, Radiohead, Sigur Ros.
What or who do you currently listen to that you find inspiration from?
Craig: From a vocal standpoint Liz Fraser from Cocteau Twins for sure. Early Nine Inch Nails when Trent would incorporate tons of dynamics with his vocals. Peter Gabriel too. I know I sound nothing like any of them.
What is next for Somun Unum?
Craig: We want to play gigs for people. We already have some new material in the works so recording will be a thing too.
NightTongue might be based in Los Angeles, but, CarisaBiancaMellado (vocals, bass, synth) and AndrewDalziell (vocals, guitar, cello, drums) are originally from Australian shores. However the darkwave group would not be complete without members ElleHaert (synth, keys, vocals) and JessicaReuter (drums, vocals), and August 18th saw the release of the single, “HumanThings“.
Left to right: Elle Haert, Carisa Bianca Mellado, Andrew Dalziell, Jessica Reuter
This tracks threw me for a moment. It was like travelling back in time to the 80s, to when 4AD brought us the cream of the dreamy shoegaze and dark indie bands, such as CocteauTwins. The vocals are delicate and floating, both entrancing and seductive, drawing you into a world of where we have passed the veil. The Dalziell’s guitar adds to the otherworldly swirling flight of fantasy.
Medallo’s singing is angelic and when entwined with the vocals of the others, becomes like spun gold thread of an intricate spider’s web capturing your ears and imagination. “HumanThings” return to dust and maybe the unknown might reclaim us, but you can still enjoy the tenebrous sounds of NightTongue…. while you can.
Baltimore band, Talking ToShadows, 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 imagine, is it simply gorgeous. If you are looking for a track that lifts your heart and makes it burst forth with joy, then “Soma” by Talking To Shadows is worth adding to your collection.
When I received an email from someone called Emperor Of Ice Cream…. well my eyebrows did go up a fair way. I was to find out that this is not a person, but rather a collective, from Cork in Ireland and they were releasing their newest single, “Winter Pages“, on November the 18th. John ‘Haggis’ Hegarty (vocals), GrahamFinn (guitar), Edward Butt (bass) and Colum Young (drums) are the Emperor Of Ice Cream, and they are on the label, FIFA Records. These guys have been a thing since the early 90s but are only put out their debut album in 2020, which came out under the title, No Sound Ever Dies.
A chiming wall of guitar embraces your senses, dragging away your thoughts and the singing is as sweet as the nicest of memories of love, entangles you in the sonic web of glorious noise. They reach into a place where longing and loss are powerful body blows, leaving you in the cold.
Wow. Just ohmygod….wow. You would never think anyone calling themselves Emperor Of Ice Cream would sound like that. They truly did blow me away with that one song. Utterly beautiful in both lyrics and musically. Shoegaze, when done correctly, is magical and in many ways, these guys remind me of early Ride, whom I consider to have been the pinnacle of creating amazing walls of tone and sighing harmonics that take you away to some other place. Play it, play it, play it and then play it again. The Emperor Of Ice Cream has gifted you “Winter Pages“.
The 15th of April, 2022 saw the release of Danish, post-punk musician, (((S)))’s single, “Mama, Do You Think It’s GonnaRain All Day?”, out on Aenaos Records. The title is attributed to the Danish poet, Poul Borum, as something he was heard to say his mother at age four. Later, Borum would be involved in the punk movement of the 80s in Copenhagen.
(((S))) has a very delicate touch and this track is genuinely sweet and full of light. The guitars are subdued in the beginning and eventually become a powerfully joyful affair, while his vocals convey a hopefulness.
There is no reproach or shadows in this track, far more a child’s wonder of a world and guidance from his mother. It is kind of refreshing to hear a song that speaks of childlike qualities that all of us have somewhere within, no matter how old we become and (((S))) proves this in spades.
I am going to tell you a little about AMMO and then you will need to listen to her music. She is a director, photographer, a composer/singer/musician and a voice whom has been at the fore of helping women and LBGTQ+ people tell their stories. So AMMO has dropped the video for the single “A Cold War City“, this month, on the label Mourning Sun Records, which was co-produced and recorded with Alex Posell, whom also contributes on percussion.
“A Cold War City is an exploration of human memory and its fickle nature. We rewrite details of past experience over and over until eventually a fiction replaces our recollection. We are the authors of our own memoirs which are under constant revision,” says AMMO.
This track is so utterly beautiful and you can hear there is that nucleus of darkness and doubt, in this devastatingly ethereal track. Her soft and entrancing vocals glide effortlessly into the void of echoing and reverberating sound that seems ever so expansive. The layers of vocals are an added angelic sprinkling.
I think the metaphor of using the cold war is a clever one. The time of the cold war was marked by secret agents, spies, double agents, propaganda and misinformation, where people were second guessing themselves. In essence, this is what this track is about. Are you memories real or just influenced by everything around you, so can you trust those memories? Dreams become self perception. Definitely a song you should check out if you are a fan of shoegaze, dream pop and ethereal wave like Cocteau Twins. AMMO is hauntingly perfect.
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 and simple and flows into “Eight East” which feels like a stream of consciousness, as it floats through, though a part of my mind is aware of a tinge of sorrow.
Again, “In Love And At War” bathes in a warm light and still a darkness slips through in the background. Something so beautiful as love can make hardships better and yet break your heart when that bond is stretched or broken. There is definitely a yearning in the the piano lines. Last track, “My Courtesan“, just speaks of passion and longing. It is the most verbose of the tracks and it swirls away like the sands of time.
I can hear what made the Cocteau Twins sound so unique still in this EP. Guthrie has always had this amazing talent for filling in the spaces with nearly imperceivable, harmonic noises.The EP is gorgeous with the ambient, ethereal sweetness based in real life and it is almost too short.. well that’s my complaint because I was enjoying it far too much. Luckily for us, Robin Guthrie will be giving us an album on November the 5th, called Pearl Diving. In the end this is a graceful and sublime release, however one cannot help but wonder if the title Mockingbird Love refers to the birds that hide the product of their mating in other bird’s nest…maybe that interpretation is up to you.
June saw the release of the debut single, “Rose+ Crown” for AMMO as a solo artist. AMMO, located in Los Angeles, has previously been in bands such as Black Flamingo and currently with Brass Box, as well as pursuing artistic outlets such as film making and photography.
AMMO
The title track starts with a lonely guitar which is highly reminicent of start of the New Model Army piece, “Wonderful Way To Go“, though that is as far as the similarity goes. This is light and airy, with jangly guitar within an epic swirling sound scape. AMMO’s voice sits comfortably at the centre, luring you to sit and listen longer. This is shoegaze without the brashness of overt walls of noise.
The ‘b’ side is “TotalRecall“, written originally by Adrian Borland of the legendary 80s British, post punk band, The Sound. It was already a wonderful track and AMMO brings a sweetness to it. A song of longing and being out of time, that is achingly beautiful, especially with the knowledge that Borland suffered mental health issues which eventually lead to his suicide.
Along with drummer, Alex Posell, a former bandmate of Black Flamingo, who helped co-produce and record, AMMO is creating lush sounds that may at first seem bleak, but warm the soul. Mourning Sun Records, which is AMMO’s label, plans to release a future album called, The Great Chaos however the meantime enjoy “Rose + Crown“.
Onyx Music Reviews 