Hello! 😊👋
Welcome to a new edition of the Daily Music Picks newsletter!
Today’s music pick is a stunning post-rock outing that straddles the line between emo and shoegaze while looking into the genre’s future.
Genre: Rock, Shoegaze
Label: Poclanos/Topshelf
Release Date: January 28, 2023
Vibe: 😮
Conveying emotion while keeping the listener at arm’s length is arguably shoegaze’s defining characteristic. Forefathers like My Bloody Valentine and Lush bury their hearts and souls under layers upon layers of effects, folding in disparate genre influences in the process. After the Magic, the third release from enigmatic Seoul artist Parannoul, takes that template a step further, integrating gorgeous orchestral sonics and harrowing electronic glitches in equal measure. The end result is an album that’s grandiose until it’s not, building emotional spaces that are both sprawling and confined, sometimes in the space of a single track.
Take “We Shine at Night,” a song that starts with unassuming chords played over the sound of footsteps crunching the brush along a forest footpath. By the time it reaches its halfway point, the instrumentation explodes into an open night sky, instantly maximizing its scale and impact. “Sound Inside Me, Waves Inside You” is another great example of this tension-and-release technique, with textural pops and glitches giving way to outsized drums and vocals crashing against your insides like a ferocious wave against the surf. The eponymous closer is the only track that feels smaller in scale, a fitting come-down that serves as a quiet exclamation point.
A must-listen for the rock heads out there, preferably with the best speakers or headphones you can find.
👉 Don’t forget to click the album image to stream the album on your favorite platform 👈
Got thoughts on this album? Did you love it? Sound off in the comments.