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"Into The Blue Night" by SWiiMS - A Lush Journey Through the Depths of Shoegaze


Album cover of SWiiMS' "Into The Blue Night"
Album cover of SWiiMS' "Into The Blue Night"
SWiiMS Crafts a Mesmerizing Soundscape That Blurs the Lines Between Sound, Color, and Emotion

Psych pop has taken a backseat to shoegaze rock as of late. I’m not sure of the cause, but I am loving the effect. There’s more brilliance in shoegaze and lo-fi rock now than there ever has been. Joining in on this wave of fantastic tunes comes SWiiMS, and their latest album, ‘Into The Blue Night.’ It’s an album of colours, but the colours are all from the same palette. This palette is warm, fluid — made up of blends of colour that come from the deepest wells of emotion. This connectivity (colour with sound, sound with emotion, emotion with the listener) is a skill that not many bands master, and few use on an entire album. The effect of such a collection of definitively related songs is pure euphoria. You are taken away, and further away, and then further away. The away becomes home; ‘Into The Blue Night’ you walk, heading home.

The album flows with such grace it feels harsh to say it begins (but it does like all things, and it ends too if that interests you). ‘In Puzzles’ connects the pieces of the album we need to our minds. The flavours of guitar span the range before us. The wide chorus, the subtle tremolo, both working together to herd us into the melody. Below the bass is working up the rhythm. The percussion slides in slick, flinging beats this way and that with soft confidence. The light is dazzling. The vocals now appear. They are calm and collected, surrounded by such strangeness. They make us feel at ease, they help us accept our new home on the move and they do so with deft touches and slights of the hand. The lyrics are drawn from you and given to the song. You feel, somehow, that the sound is yours.


SWiiMS'
SWiiMS'


SWiiMS are a highly talented band. Their playing is tight when it needs to be and organic when you want to let go. The vocals not only nail the vibe but also nail the pace of the songs. With shoegaze and modern indie pop that is a hard thing to do. Take, ‘All I Die For,’ for instance. The song here is a strong one. It pushes and it pulls its own way. It doesn’t wait for you or anyone. Yet the vocal is right along there with it. ‘Bliss’ flies high, the vocals follow; it dips they follow too. There is no sense that one is leading the other, no sense that one is in charge. They work in tandem to bring us these gorgeous melodies.


To finish with ‘Diving In’ is a powerful move. The conclusion of a journey to the water's edge, the finalAAaAAA submersion. We are baptised into the sound of SWiiMS with a powerful melody and an innovative charge of percussion. This entire album is dripping passion and prestige. There is nothing I would change, and everything I would listen to again. The beats are slight, they find your pulse. The bass works wonders with your mind and its rhythms. Above it all the guitars float like clouds, birds, memories and dreams; as the vocals soothe and define the lands untouchable. An album I wish were infinite.





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