REVIEW

The fourth album from dream pop / trip-hop duo Blurred City Lights.

Blurred City Lights is a project by Dean Garcia, formerly of Curve and now active with SPC ECO, alongside Polish musician Jarek Leskiewicz, a long-time collaborator within the SPC ECO circle. While several tracks featuring vocals by Rose Berlin (now of SPC ECO) and Béatrix Méthé lean toward a hazy, dreamlike palette reminiscent of SPC ECO, the album’s defining characteristic lies elsewhere. The presence of a male lead vocal introduces a distinctly decadent, world-weary atmosphere that sets this release apart.

Dark, enveloping soundscapes that evoke Massive Attack or Depeche Mode form the foundation, over which the duo’s detached, hollowed-out vocals drift in tandem. The effect is oddly cinematic—less a dramatic apocalypse than a quiet end-of-the-world road trip undertaken by two exhausted travelers. Listening feels akin to wandering through monochrome ruins, suspended somewhere between resignation and reverie.

Despite its high level of refinement and cohesion, the album is curiously available only via Bandcamp. Taken alongside SPC ECO’s recent releases, this apparent insistence on the platform raises questions about intent rather than accessibility.

One final note of caution: this Blurred City Lights has no connection whatsoever to the Nagoya-based shoegaze band of the same name. When listing or referencing them together, it is strongly recommended to distinguish the Japanese act with a “(JP)” tag to avoid confusion.