Secret Shine
There Is Only Now

2017 seems to be the official year of the ultimate dream pop revival; Slowdive, Ride, and even Jesus & Mary Chain have resurfaced.

The shoegaze melodies of Secret Shine from Bristol are also returning to the dreamers' playlists. A relatively sad past pushed them to reunite in the 2000s, after the death of drummer Tim Morris (for whom the band composed an eight-track tribute album).

The guitar notes of Scott Purnell and the ethereal presence of Kathryn Smith are there to melt the mind-parasite ice and bring listeners back to the right dimension.

Slightly blurry and smoky, that dimension entertains with solid riffs intertwining their fates with keyboards. Dirty Game serves as the perfect example, and To The Well as the rightful continuation (a more rock and wild nature). I feel compelled to note Falling Again as the best piece, a union between past and present, with everything that the elusive indie rock has generated over the decades. Choirs, defiant drums, and ghosts haunting dreams.

Huge rooms like life histories, but fresh strings. The immortalized glory of Secret Shine (and not just them, of course) seems insidiously aiming to revive the spirit of the early confused '90s. Many are learning the old lessons and are preparing to revitalize some of those sounds (read: The xx).

Will this, in short, be the sound of the decade that awaits us? Will it be the lifeblood of the young who remember the past, that has made the older ones want to get back in the game?