Whitelands – Sunlight Echoes

As a longtime admirer of shoegaze, the genre’s ever-increasing popularity is a peculiar spectacle to witness. In the late ’90s, when I first discovered the sonic delights of My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless—still the definitive answer to almost any question about shoegaze—they were far and away the most notable example of the sound, and even they were a cult concern. I can vividly remember clearing a dancefloor playing “Soon” during a DJ set in the summer of 2000.

In many ways, shoegaze was seen as a faintly embarrassing phase before guitar bands corrected their course during the Britpop era. Now, we understand that, for the most part, it was Britpop that was the regrettable diversion. There’s a reason bands like Whitelands are taking cues from recently reappraised acts such as Lush, Slowdive, and Pale Saints. If acolytes of Kula Shaker, Cast, or The Bluetones exist, then I’m yet to hear from them.  

While the London quartet’s songwriting comes from a more traditional alternative rock point of view, the duelling guitars of Etienne Quartey-Papafio and Michael Adelaja place them squarely in the shoegaze domain. Their second full-length release for Sonic Cathedral, Sunlight Echoes, follows 2024’s Night-bound Eyes Are Blind To The Day. It’s a more confident, cohesive record, showcasing a particularly clean brand of shoegaze; its guitars shimmer rather than snarl and the bass often feels like a self-conscious interloper in the mix.

Highlights include the celestial “Sparklebaby,” which features Lush’s Emma Anderson, and the raucous “Dark Horse,” a veritable sonic assault that hints at what Whitelands could achieve if they embraced a slightly more aggressive guitar sound more regularly. As it stands, Sunlight Echoes is a solid entry in the shoegaze canon, but its innate politeness prevents it from truly standing out in a packed field.

Sunlight Echoes is out now via Sonic Cathedral.