Wisp Sinks Her Teeth Into Shoegaze Ideas on If Not Winter

Though a handful of tracks rely on the same repetitive tension and release that drove the shoegaze revivalists to Wisp in droves, throughout the remainder of the record, Wisp subverts the formulaic nature of her previous works, starting with “After Dark.” Built up to be another soft-opening, into a barrage of noise-type song, “After Dark” opts to remain subdued with a slower melody, punctuated by an acoustic opening riff and unhurried percussion. It’s sluggishly sultry while maintaining the “nü gaze” feeling with a gravelly, distorted guitar undertone. “Guide Light” continues with the unexpected, introducing a wobbly sci-fi synth straight out of a B-movie. While the blazing guitars return, the spooky synth brings a unique sonic texture that then slows down into a seductive, groaning dance as Lu sings “Tell me something / Is your love enough to live for?”

That lyrical drama is a prevailing theme throughout the record. If Not Winter is romantic in a grotesque and sullen manner that is akin to the yearning Lu’s influences favor. With Poe-esque lyrics sprinkled throughout “Holding your heart / My skin rips apart” (“If Not Winter), “I’m worthy / Of nothing / I’ll regret letting both our hearts die” (“After Dark”), “Just me at the end / The ghost of myself / All my love was made to end” (“Guide Light”), and “How do I see myself now? / Shed all of my skin / But I grasp onto / The beauty laid within” (“Black Swan”), Lu manages to craft an air of romantic dread.

“Lativa,” an instrumental interlude with gothic textures of church bells and something piano, marks the halfway point of the record. The track dissolves into a distorted ghostly tone that blends into the title track. Though Wisp’s music has often been described as “medieval fantasy,” drawing on the ancient inspirations in the album’s title from the Ancient Greek lyrical poet Sappho, it has always felt more like an eldritch quality. “If Not Winter” has a haunting chill, opening with a soft synth that is steel-guitar-esque and drums that create a rhythm reminiscent of a death march. “Wont be here anymore / I’ll lay beneath the floor / Cut the light that shines in me / So my darkness is all I see,” Lu serenades with an eerie lilt.

To break out of the shoegaze box she’s been shoved into, Lu brings pop melodies into tracks like “Mesmerized” and “Serepentine” while still punctuating them with hefty guitar distortion and her characteristic ethereal vocals. “Mesmerized” cranks the searing guitar and breakneck drums back up with heavier riffs, invoking the urgent, heavier work on Pandora. The opening of this song feels the most evocative of Slowdive and my bloody valentine, with a ramped-up guitar that burns into you, inciting an achy tension. However, “Mesmerized” veers off into metal territory, featuring weighty riffs and hooky alt-pop melodies. “Serepentine” brings in a 2000s pop punk cadence through the bouncy percussion and a catchy as hell chorus “It’s been a while since I’ve seen you / Let’s spin out and say how we feel / Tell you you’re safe with me always / Your fears I’ll carry them far away / You always knew / I’d wanna be next to you.” Both tracks are welcome deviations from the typical shoegaze adjacent world Lu operates in.

“Save Me Now” is the perfect marriage of all the album’s strongest pieces, featuring dynamic guitar work that shifts from jangly to vicious, accompanied by shifting drum rhythms and the incredibly catchy chorus of dark and addictive love. “I’m paralyzed / With you on my mind / I feel the jail / It comes across my sight / I’m bleeding out / Could you save me now,” she sings before breaking into an echoey humming that feels utterly euphoric. “Save Me Now” has that undeniable shimmering quality that just hypnotizes you to move.

If Not Winter closes out with a final twist, an almost exclusively acoustic track, “All I Need.” A clever choice to highlight just how heavenly Lu’s vocals are. When you are dealing in a genre so laden with noise and distortion, vocal talents can get lost in the mix, but that’s what makes Lu’s sound feel so unique from her predecessors: her whisper-quiet yet potent tone. It’s a sweet closer to tie in the yearning romantics of the record with the simple declaration, “Remembering our days / How I wasn’t afraid… You’re all I need.” With only a little over a year between her debut EP and first album, Lu has shown impressive growth and an appetite for carving out her niche in the alt-rock genre. Who knows where she’ll be in another few years? Until then, we have a delicious piece of heavenly rock played at an astronomical volume to sink our teeth into.

Olivia Abercrombie is Brooklyn-based music and culture writer. When she is not reviewing albums or interviewing artists you can find her ranting on Twitter (@o_abercrombie) about Survivor or making terrible jokes on Letterboxd.