motel void

AUREVOIR – MEMORIES

Aurevoir is a project that remains something of a mystery to me. I couldn’t find any bio on the streaming services, just a photo of a child – the only real clue is the French flag displayed next to the name. But let’s get to what matters more: the music itself. This is fantastic instrumental music, and the track comes from the album U. It immediately grabbed me with its sound: beautiful guitars, a wonderfully warm drum tone, and some really lovely ideas and atmosphere. The track is only a minute and a half long, but it has serious replay potential.

ANCIENT CHANNELS – YEAR OF THE RATS

Ancient Channels are a Meanjin (Brisbane, Australia) based post-punk band inspired by ’80s alternative music and film scores from classic sci-fi and horror. Year of the Rats is the fourth and final single from their new record Static Spirit. I absolutely love the energy here. It has a certain shoegaze quality, but it is also completely chaotic, frantic and restless. And then there is that gorgeous vocal, perfectly embedded in the track, with a melody that is genuinely beautiful. Everything feels like it is constantly moving, but the vocal somehow holds it all together!

THE FIRST ELOI – DRAWN INTO THESE HEADLIGHTS

We are staying with hazy guitars. The First Eloi are a multi-generational shoegaze band from Hamburg, Germany, bringing together members of Generations X, Y and Z. Formed in 2022 as a studio project, the band focuses on writing memorable songs first rather than chasing volume for its own sake. Layers of guitars, reverb and feedback are treated as part of the arrangement – not as the destination, but as a way of amplifying melody and emotion.

That’s exactly what I enjoy about their approach to shoegaze. They are clearly capable of writing really good songs that would still work stripped of all the frantic guitars, but I’m very glad those guitars are there, because they allow me to enjoy genuinely hypnotic textures like the ones that emerge around 1:40. The second half builds beautifully and develops a wonderfully dreamy atmosphere. I’d love to see them live someday!