Closer - "A Further Shore"

Words by Zach Romano.

NYC dream pop/shoegaze band Closer released a gorgeous, ethereal new single called “A Further Shore” earlier this month. If this sounds like it could be a cut from the early-mid ‘90s shoegaze moment, well, that’s because it is: most of the track was laid down in 1996. The vox weren’t recorded, though, and the song was shelved until vocalist Lorraine Lelis went back into the studio earlier this year with Closer drummer Erik Laroi and frequent collaborator Stephen Krieger to complete the track.

“A Further Shore” recalls some of the best of ‘90s dream pop. The influence of shoegaze giants Slowdive is evident throughout the song, and hints of “Machine Gun” off 1994’s Souvlaki and “Crazy for You” off 1995’s Pygmalion are easy to pick up. Waves of softly fuzzed guitar and bass ebb and flow around Laroi’s sharp hi hat patterns, and the music and vocals interact seamlessly to establish the song’s mood.

Lelis serves as the song’s focus and centerpiece, and her voice is relatively high in the mix in comparison to Closer’s contemporaries. “I was falling, and I tried to be heard…anywhere; could you hear my words, so dear?” she sings, but the gossamer vocals and airy harmonies convey a sense of drift and longing that barely requires lyrics at all: “Words are just an estimation of what you’re feeling, and music and lyrics can get closer,” Lelis told Tom Gallo in her Look At My Records interview last year. This could be a mission statement for shoegaze, a genre in which vocals often are essentially an instrument and only some words are manage to pierce through the swirling haze of guitar.

“A Further Shore” is a gem of a song, and hearing a track this good come out of a period thought totally accounted for is akin to picking out a lost 7-inch at a record store.

You can stream “A Further Shore” on Spotify or download it via Bandcamp.

Check out Episode 107 of Look At My Records to hear Tom’s interview with Lorraine Lelis.