REVIEW

The third album from Norwegian post-punk/shoegaze band Mayflower Madame.

The band was formed during high school by childhood friends Trond Fagernes (Gt/Vo) and Rune Overby (Gt). After several lineup changes, the current recording lineup includes Petter G. Marberg (Ba), Ola J. Kyrkjeeide (Dr), and Kenneth Eknes (Syn).

Rooted in 1980s goth and post-punk, the album blends shoegaze and dream pop aesthetics into a richly layered sound. Gloomily pulsing drums and bass lines are coated in translucent, dreamy guitar and keyboard textures, while smoky, seductive vocals and rough-edged guitar tones introduce a faintly dizzying sense of danger beneath the surface romanticism. This tension—sweet allure tinged with toxicity—forms the core strength of what the band often describe as their “psych-gaze” approach.

A standout track is #8 “Crippled Crow,” where guitars roar like a sandstorm, relentlessly agitating the listener’s sense of unease. The album’s emotional weight is further underscored by its dedication—“The album is dedicated to Marion Serck Fagernes”—pointing to a personal loss within Trond’s family. That sense of grief appears to surface in the lyrics of tracks such as #1 “Ocean of Bitterness” and #9 “Insight for the Mourning Hours,” where unresolved sorrow and quiet despair seem to linger beneath the music.

Taken together, the album channels personal mourning into a sound that is both intoxicating and unsettling, reinforcing Mayflower Madame’s position at the darker, more psychedelic edge of contemporary post-punk and shoegaze.