For indie heads there has been a welcome renaissance of guitar music as of late. Elements of driving noughties indie rock, swirling shoegaze, meditative slowcore and midwest emo have all returned with gusto, breathing new life into genres considered past their prime and signifying the enduring versatility of six strings.
Copenhagen three-piece Spawner are no exception to this fashion, with their new single ‘Air Is Getting Stranger’, the title track from their upcoming debut album, reanimating old modes into invigorating new forms.
Adopting the sparkly fizz of shoegaze guitars but adorning them with close, double-tracked vocal harmonies, Spawner invoke the poppier elements of Ride and Lush while holding fast to their more grungy sonic palette. There is a conscious level of balance kept at the forefront, ensuring the spacier dream-pop flourishes of reverb-drenched acoustic guitars or floating synth pads are given as much prominence as the punch of a declarative kick drum or wall of noise bass track. Balance is paramount when it comes to combining textures and on ‘Air Is Getting Stranger’, Spawner are fiercely conscious to maintain equilibrium between power and grace.
Photo by Fanny-Alba Bang Jönsson & Mathilde Ferro Fransen
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