After much anticipation, indie six-piece GAZE have released their debut EP Paper Moon, a warm and raw iteration of their sound.
The EP delves deep into the complexities of relationships, self-discovery and love, and whilst these themes have the tendency to feel very weighty if not approached with nuance, GAZE balance their tenderness with a necessary lightness, making for a sensitive yet peaceful listen.
For example, the lush, saxophone-soaked “July” and its musings on inopportune timing and the weight of missing someone, or “Daylight” – a dramatic ballad that erupts into a dark and intense post-rock composition.
Yes, there’s loss, but there’s growth too, and those glimmers of harmonic hope are the best thing about this forlorn offering.
Opener “Teeth” brings to mind Julia Jacklin circa Crushing, with a vocal intensity that Lauren Thomas achieves effortlessly. There’s melancholy in her full-bodied voice, but there’s also a kind of airy brightness, best heard in her falsettos, which glimmer like silver-linings.
She finds support from Regie Pienaar and Desmond Kannemeyer on guitars, Dan Charles on bass, Aerin McCallum on keys and Keagan Hollywood on drums. On their own they are each intricate. Together they are seamless.
My favourite track is “Less Than Friends”. It has this bittersweet driving bass line that is just classic indie-rock. The kind that was popular in the 2010s – think Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Wolf Alice, Alvvays, Angel Olsen, Phoebe Bridgers, Beach House, Bon Iver…
The list goes on, and in this sense, there’s something so sweetly nostalgic about Paper Moon. It’s like I’m 16-years-old again, sitting in my bedroom watching the rain outside. And I’m trying not to cry because being a teenager is hard and confusing and scary but also maybe the last time you’ll ever feel truly free.
GAZE has made a soundtrack to memory and to life with their dazzling debut, and it already feels like a watershed moment for the fledgling band.
