by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
New Paltz’s Girl Gaze only formed last year but their debut album, Fade Out is a confident debut that comes from the bond of friendships both old and new. Due out October 26th via Team Love Records (Yours Are The Only Ears, Tica Douglas), the band aren’t afraid to take chances, and the results are utterly radiant as they slink between sultry soul and indie pop with ease. There’s a sleepy feel to it, a lull that feels like a warm blanket on the coldest of nights, each song another reminder of the quintet’s - Michaela Passero (vocals/keys), Cat Delaus (vocals), Izzy Deranieri (bass), Julia Oppedisano (drums), Emily Charash (keys/guitar) - impressive eclecticism, every single piece fit together in perfect harmony.
Introduced with a lovely and forlorn piano ballad on “Introduction,” the band’s presence arrives with a graceful subtlety, a welcoming that is both sparse and majestic. The record finds it’s true shape with a “pop” on “Melting,” a gorgeous statement of dreamy atmospherics and tightly refined rhythms. Girl Gaze quickly prove to be as adept at reverberating bedroom pop as are at syrupy slowcore, each presented with a unique backdrop rooted in retro soul. You can hear it in the snares that drag perfectly in the pocket (“Suddenly”), the vocal embellishments (“Sun Song”), and the doo-wop guitar lines, but it’s always just beneath the surface, the band’s breezy pop always feeling something like lying in a grass covered meadow and looking directly into the sun, sunglasses optional. While the record is colored with different textures, its two stand-out moments, the church organ led “Your Eyes“ and the delicately stuttered rhythm of “Words” are simply brilliant. Each of the songs wrap the keys in with an immaculate backbeat in its own unique way to bring out the best in the dreamy atmospherics and stunning crawl of the increasingly full melodies.
Girl Gaze’s Fade Out is out October 26th via Team Love Records.