New Music: Slaney Bay – That’s Cool

South-West London four-piece Slaney Bay add surprising aspects, musically and lyrically, to shoegaze on That’s Cool.

They give the genre something of a makeover on That’s Cool; the frank sexual nature of the lyrics, exploring the nature of relationships between women, is a narrative that falls outside the usual dreamlike and heteronormative nature of the genre. The story within the song is one that many of us will recognise, all the same.

Similarly, it adds a hard-edged, though not abrasive, garage-meets-psych mood, a dual theme that acts as a mirror to the uncertainty that lies beneath the superficial, public-facing, calm of the friendship at the heart of the lyrics.

“That’s Cool is about a flirty LGBT+ friendship,” says the band. “The subtle hand brushes that neither of you address. Looking for each other in a crowded room.”

“Ears burn red when you hold each other’s eye contact for a moment too long… When other friends ask, ‘Is something happening between you two?’ you just laugh it off. That’s Cool captures the uncertainty of a tactile female friendship: ‘Are we flirting or are we just friends?’”

You can check out That’s Cool and more music from Slaney Bay on SoundCloud and Spotify. For band updates, be sure to check out their Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram socials.

Header photo by Rory Dunn