Notes and chords waft from the speakers, the successive sonic waves growing higher and higher until they somehow morph into a tsunami of sound that, when it finally reaches shore, dissipates as if an auditory mirage. Which is to say, the songs of Dystopian Days—the debut EP from New Gaze, a London-based band—drift through the ether of spacetime as if from the hazy, paisley daze of the ‘60s, ’70s and ’80s. The music conjures works from such bands as Pink Floyd, the Alan Parsons Project and Rain Parade.
The title track, released as a vinyl-only single over a year ago, is languid and liquid yet thick and sticky, a bit like the Byrds circa “Goin’ Back,” with harmonies washing forth until they wash no more. In an Under the Radar piece, the band explains that it “speaks of a time in youth when you feel lost and don’t know what direction you’re heading in, your mind ridden with fragmented thoughts and living self-destructively in an attempt to fill an internal void. It moves into a sort of epiphany in the chorus through the realisation that there is another, more light-filled way of living, opening your eyes to the beauty that surrounds us and remembering to breathe.”
“All We Can See,” about the wonders of love and infatuation, is a white puffy cloud set to song, just about, while “Under the Skin”—released as a single today alongside a Bandcamp-only EP—plumbs the depths of self-doubt. “Sardinia” sports a breezy Beach Boys feel, while trading the good vibrations of Southern California for the wonders of the Mediterranean: “Watching the sun meet the horizon in Bosa/Makes me want to fall in love/After a while we are free/I wish that I could never leave.”
“Changes” shares a sentiment many a young person has expressed: out with the old, in with the new! (Let’s just hope the new boss ain’t the same as the old.) “Suspensions,” meanwhile, digs into the way blame is deflected by those who deserve it; it’s never their fault that they strayed, for example, but yours. “Heal Me,” which closes the EP, seeks to escape life’s disappointments, if only for a little while, in a warm embrace.
All in all, Dystopian Days is a well-crafted outing that, as I indicated above, echoes the ages. It blends an assortment of influences—some, no doubt, secondhand—into a vibrant whole. It’s well worth a listen.
The Old Grey Cat 