| Artist |
| Dreamgaze |
| Title |
| Sound Colour |
| Format/Cat |
| CD AM002 |
| Label |
| Aetheria Music |
| Style |
| Shoegazing goth/pop |
| Date of review |
| 11th October 2010 |
| Reviewer |
| Carl Jenkinson |
| Rating |
| 6.5 |
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Dreamgaze? Perhaps Shoegaze would be a better name for this earlier incarnation of Fuchsia & Kal3id who also record under the name Bella Lune (see review elsewhere!) along with Michael who, in keeping with his bandmates, is something of a multi-instrumentalist. The more I find out about these guys the more I'm convinced that these guys are confirmed anglophiles as here, the back cover art reminds me of a clothing advert that might appear in the Infest programme while the spelling on the title is interesting for an American act! Mind you, when I spied the title of the first track as 'Sincerity' I thought for one second I was holding some sort of new age album, best not go there, eh?
For me, the music, while pleasant & generally undemanding is not as imaginative nor as exciting as their later work as Bella Lune (this dates from 2009) but if you still hanker after the old 'shoegazing' days of the early/mid 90s or just a bit of good old-fashioned ethereal goth then you might well find some joy in the gentle washes of reverbed or sustained guitar which make for a mood that is ethereal yet dark although 'Graveyard Kiss' does pick up some sense or urgency as it develops (& at over 6 minutes' duration there's plenty of time for it to do so) & there is a slight grittiness in some of the guitar & drums with 'Before Ruin' sounding akin to 'deathrock for girlies'!. Only occasionally does the pace pick up to any noticeable degree & when it does on 'She Whispers Silently' the result is a lightweight slice of pop fluff. Best track by far is 'Faces In The Rain' which has a nicely exotic & mysterious feel as sinuous middle-eastern melodics vie with wordless, spoken & sung voice while 'Weeping Willow' closes proceedings on an almost gritty note as the drums, & guitar offer something of a contrast to Fuchsia's voice that sounds as if its being carried on their air to seep into your consciousness! Overall, this is a pleasant album from an act finding their feet & laying the foundations for the treat that Fuchsia & Kal3id would later unveil as Bella Lune!
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