Indoor Voices is a Toronto-based dream pop project led by Jonathan Relph. We discovered the five-piece’s latest release, an EP called Auratic, because it was released on Swedish label Häxrummet, who previously brought you lovely shoegazey pop music from Star Horse. The folks at Häxrummet describe the EP as music for “floating on your back in the lake on a warm summer evening wishing upon stars. It’s about the symbiotic necessity of the ugly and the beautiful.” That just about nails it in my opinion. On Auratic, the band are also joined by several guests, including Maja Thunberg from the aforementioned Star Horse, as well as Sandra Vu of SISU and Sum Sum Girls, Jimena Torres of The Great Wilderness, Alisha Erao of Lush Agave and Alligator Indian and Kate Rogers (Kate Rogers Band).
‘See Wish’ opens proceedings with frantic guitars and then smooth, dreamy vocals and clattering percussion, while ‘Atomic’ is slower and dreamier, like a feather-light Beach House, Torres’ vocals the perfect match for the ambience, eventually giving way to waves of shimmering feedback.
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‘Indifferentiator’ is another perky dream pop track with layered vocals and a thick, swirling atmosphere, additional vocals this time provided by Rogers. ‘What Can I’ is very percussion-heavy and, at its heart, a sweet and melodic dream pop track, while finale ‘Say’ pulses in front of a sibilant shhshhshh, like a chorus of crickets chirping in the night.
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Auratic is out now on limited edition cassette (be quick they’re almost gone!) and digitally via the Indoor Voices Bandcamp page.