I’d like to think this a case where a music scene’s very existence proves itself to be vital, to be responsible for fostering a young artist and helping them improve over time. Gloomy popped up on our radar late last year, when they (I believe they are a duo) appeared on the bill for one of Canopies And Drape’s Unico live events. I couldn’t attend that one…but Chick of Canopies And Drapes later told me in an e-mail a little about them. They come to all of her events…and at the time were still in high school. Finding material by them online wasn’t easy, save for a single video for a song called “Ghost.” It’s a fine enough song, if nothing more than a really good drum-machine-and-synth workout. Watch below.
That appeared on their first demo CD, which came out around the same time they appeared on the Unico bill. Presumably, so did the song “I Was Crying,” which happened to spring up on my SoundCloud feed today thanks to Shortcake Collage Tape. This one stopped me cold. “I Was Crying” features a similar structure to ghost, all sparse drum machine, pretty synths and surprisingly unsettling vocals – all tricks Gloomy might have picked up from seeing her perform live so much, a (once) student soaking it in. Critically, “I Was Crying” finds Gloomy digesting those influences and creating something all their own. The musical set-up might sound familiar, but the way Gloomy repeat the titular phrase over and over again (a departure from Canopies more short-story style) becomes hypnotic…and it all builds up to a nice release. It’s sad but bright, all while also being entrancing. Listen below.