Album review: Bedrooms, Perfectly Still

Having released some of the most delightfully pleasing shoegaze/indie-acoustic singles in recent years, Dublin trio Bedrooms have carved out a loyal fanbase in Ireland. In addition, they’ve attracted global critical attention, including from Rolling Stone, who called their music the “perfect soundtrack” for “doomed crushes.”

Indeed, there is a potent tinge of longing about Perfectly Still, their brilliant debut album, produced in Yawn Studios by Bill Ryder-Jones. Perfectly Still does what great shoegaze music does – it makes you feel achingly nostalgic, even if you can’t place what you’re nostalgic for. You can hear it in the pining in the vocals on the first track, ‘Crusher / Birds Of Prey’, which is probably the best thing they’ve ever recorded.

Perfectly Still is so enjoyable because it doesn’t make the mistake of assuming that just because the dreamy shoegaze sound is wonderfully atmospheric, the lyrics don’t also matter (cough, Cocteau Twins). Bedrooms are excellent lyricists, too. Their controlled dreamy sound is often punctuated by crystalline images that hit you with full force, such as visions of the “Sunday scaries” on ‘Sunday,’ or feelings of listlessness on ‘Huffing’ (“It’s ok to bounce if you’re feeling it / Rest the head and sit back for the evening”).

They’ve rightly drawn comparisons to canonical indie artists like Galaxie 500 and Pavement, which is entirely warranted based on the nine songs here.

• Out Now