Yorkshire's bdrmm pull from the shoegaze playbook for anthemic new single "A Reason To Celebrate"
Hull/Leeds-based band bdrmm make no bones about their love of shoegaze. On the second single from their forthcoming debut album Bedroom the five-piece pay a decisive homage to that enduring wall of lush sound. "This is our ode to the genre," says frontman Ryan Smith.
Indeed, "A Reason To Celebrate" is shoegaze 101: avian beats, squalling guitar harmonics, reverb-addled riffs and misty vocals that work to transport you to another plain. "But it's ok / for you to walk away," Smith reasons of a disintegrating relationship, set to group harmonies and a pulsing, anthemic coda that thumps the message home. Much of it wouldn't sound out of place on Ride's classic debut Nowhere.
And that's just one aspect to love about bdrmm. Unlike many bands, they aren't afraid of labels. They positively nod to their influences (previous Bedroom song "Happy", for instance, is sharply reminiscent of DIIV's atmos-pop). bdrmm inking a deal with British indie label Sonic Cathedral (headed up by Nathaniel Cramp, who once told BEST FIT he grew up on a diet of "dreamy, reverby, ethereal stuff") is in a way testament to that acknowlegment.
Smith adds of the single: “We wanted to make a proper shoegaze song. When we finished recording it, I think we were all a little overwhelmed – this was the music that we always wanted to make.
“The lyrics come from a place of realisation and understanding. It’s a battle between what you want and what you need to do. It’s about proudly, yet stupidly, letting go – and the voice in your head giving you all the different reasons why you should. I love this track; it’s a personal favourite. When we play it live, we never want to stop.”
Neither do we.
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