Started in 2019 with their first EP “Arsonist”, the Boston, Massachusetts based Shoegazing Dream Pop band The Shallows, comprised of longtime stalwarts of the local indie rock music scene, guitarist Brad Emerson (ex-Strangeways, The Milling Gowns) and drummer Jason Keisch (ex-SCUBA, ex-Strangeways), with the addition of vocalist Jess Baggia (This Bliss), and bassist Ben Didsbury (r|verghxst), are finally about to release their long-awaited debut studio album “Wave States” scheduled to be released in May 2023.
Informed by the expansive, lush, and atmospheric sound drawn from early 4AD, Slowdive, The Cure, and Cranes, the band teeters, with deft personality, between at times ethereal and reflective, at other times subtly dark and restless atmospheres, arising from the deep intertwining of iridescent and twinkling guitar textures, on which glide the compelling Jess Baggia’ vocalizations, whose expressive breadth gives further emotional tones to the vivid, shiny and fluid instrumental narratives, imbued with melancholic romanticism.
The second LP preview, “Verdant”, unfurls scattered and plodding drum beats that compel densely chugging tremolo strains of “How Soon Is Now” reminiscence, to infuse murky ruffles laced with a subtle sense of distress, layered with reverb-filled echoing guitar melodies that shimmer and hover, flickering with increasing wistful crystalline clarity across beautifully soothing and sentimental vocals, tearing both reflective yearning and bliss, haunted with fear and angst, trying desperately to find lost memories, but, alas all is gone.
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