It's always interesting to hear what influences a band or artist cite. Some try to be ultra-cool, naming bands they know are trendy but probably have heard little by, some are more honest and you'd pick out the same list in a blindfold test when listening to their music. Some are more surprising, acts you'd never have guessed (but then judging by my own varied personal taste, perhaps it shouldn't be that way). Denver's A Shoreline Dream (possibly named because Denver is slap-bang in the middle of the US, with no shoreline for hundreds of miles) then? Ulrich Schnauss? Yeah, that fits their atmospheric, electronic-tinged sound. Engineers? Sure, this slow-paced shoegaze-inspired music belongs in the same category. The Pet Shop Boys? Tori Amos? Perhaps that's what they listen to in their spare time, but judging by latest single, 'Time Is A Machine Gun', little of their particular styles have rubbed off.
Whatever A Shoreline Dream's record collection consists of is, of course, essentially non-important when reviewing their own tunes, but it gives an interesting insight nonetheless. The first release since last year's acclaimed 'The Silent Sunrise' album, 'Time Is A Machine Gun' uses post-rock guitars to bring a spacious ambiance right from the start, as samples of astronaut communication are placed far back in the mix, almost acting as an instrument in themselves, as well as giving the cosmic edge the band are after. Their own vocals are soft, drifting and woozy, an effect that's also mirrored by the production as a whole. What's created is to a certain extent quite hypnotic and belongs in the twilight zone; it almost feels surreal and angelic, and it's definitely quite majestic. The final vocal sample perhaps sums up A Shoreline Dream's manifesto: "man must explore... and this is exploration at its greatest". This is something the band have obviously done with their own listening habits, and that's transferred to the records they make. Maybe those influences should be as surprising after all.
A Shoreline Dream's website
Stream or buy the single
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