Today marks the release of Fan Fiction, a gripping EP from husband-wife duo Skygasm. Showcasing a hypnotic range of dream-pop, shoegaze, and post-punk, Fan Fiction touts a melodic and aesthetically rich sound — with each of the six tracks standing uniquely. Opener “Garden Song” shows a lush, spacious push of psychedelic synth tones and distant background vocals. A fully successful atmospheric set-piece, the album opens in majestic form with “Garden Song.”
The opener’s lushness gives way enjoyably to crunchy, shoegaze-friendly guitars on the alluring “Marshmallow Lollipop.” Akiko Matsuda’s serene vocals mesh beautifully with a range of jangly guitars and more roaring, shoegaze-fitted escalation. The ensuing “Freak” is something else entirely, a jangling vein of post-punk and grunge with a creeping vocal presence fronted by Henry Dobson. The “freak like you,” refrain plays with melodic charm. In a comparable stylistic realm, “Special” is a hazy, trickling alt-pop success that reminds of Beck.
Closing this superb EP is the self-titled track, a 9-minute epic growing from spaghetti-western guitars and nonchalant vocals into second-half textural beauty. The duo, based between London and Scotland, comprises of Japanese-born vocalist and guitarist Akiko Matsuda and Scottish-born multi-instrumentalist and producer Henry Dobson. They thoroughly impress throughout the six tracks on Fan Fiction. They note their sound as reflecting “clear urban cultural influences from London and Tokyo.” Each track on the EP was a spontaneous creation, with not a single one taking more than a day to write and record. The duo’s chemistry and creative spontaneity is audibly enjoyed throughout.
Stream the EP in full below:
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“Marshmallow Lollipop” and other memorable tracks from this month can also be streamed on the updating Obscure Sound’s ‘Best of July 2020’ Spotify playlist.
The track is also featured in the genre-based, best-of Spotify compilation Emerging Dream-Pop.
