New Music: Azure Rose – December

Toronto quartet Azure Rose deftly reveal on December that there is common ground between shoegaze and dream pop – and more besides.

Arriving near enough at the midpoint of the band’s recently-released Blue Drops album, it could equally be a midpoint between those genres’ differing approaches to melody, structure, and tempo. After a few listens, that did change for me, and not in a way I’d have expected, getting me to rethink my preconceptions about what I believe shoegaze to be.

December got me thinking of a classic band of the mid-80s to the early 90s in a very different light. I’d not really considered The Stone Roses as being either in debt to or playing a role in either shoegaze or dream pop. Azure Rose certainly don’t head down the Madchester route on December. It does have a similarity in the hazy yet assertive vocals, in the vein of Ian Brown, and in how the different tempos and layers are anchored by the drums. Neither had I really thought of shoegaze as being something to sing along to; Azure Rose have proven me wrong here.

States the band’s founder, Justin Grant: “December is a bit like floating through a dream. I wanted it to have that hazy, nostalgic feeling I’ve always loved in bands like Chapterhouse and M83, where everything feels a little distant and unreal, but still comforting.”

“There’s a slight melancholy to it, but not necessarily sadness. More that feeling of getting lost in something and wanting to stay there a little longer before having to wake up. I think it would fit well in a playlist that leans dreamy, atmospheric, and nostalgic.”

To find out more about Azure Rose and Blue Drops, head to the band’s Facebook and Instagram socials. The album is streaming on Spotify, and you can pick up some rather cool-looking vinyl editions on Bandcamp.