Pleased to Meet You: Wray

Alabama’s Wray are a new act on my radar, as of today, and I’m grateful that this ear candy finally worked its way into listening rotation. Throughout the tune, the band use a steady backbeat, propulsive in nature, adding just the slightest hint of energy to a tune that stretches beyond 6 minutes. There’s a wash that coats the song, though it wavers between a foggy sensation and a glittering sparkle in the distance. It’d be easy to pigeonhole this as mere shoegaze/dream pop, but it felt more like a spiritual journey, like a musical out-of-body experience…perhaps you’re in need of such a journey. The band will release Stream of Youth/Blank World on June 5th via Earth Libraries.

Wray Rhymes with Friday, Perfect

wrayI really struggled to find stuff that grabbed my ear this week, until this track from Wray trickled into the old inbox. It’s the second time I’ve been struck by such a track this week. The group will easily get lumped into the gaze category, but I like that the recording shows some restraint, pulling more out of the song’s emotive quality than it’s punishing sonic wash. Tracks like this have me excited to hear what the group has as they prep the release of their new album, Hypatia, which is slated for an early 2015 release.

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