Prepare for a blissful shoegaze journey with T.G. Shand’s enchanting EP, Cinnamon, ready to captivate you.
Cinnamon is the sophomore EP from New Zealand-based musician T.G. Shand. Previously of now-defunct Melbourne shoegazers Miniatures, T.G. Shand has released seven singles since 2018, with her debut EP, Golden Hour, coming out in 2020.
Buoyed along on the strong uniqueness of its lead single, ‘Fatwood’, Cinnamon beckons listeners to immerse themselves in a mind-melting space of massive sound.
As a sprawling Kiwi creation from Christchurch (Ōtautahi), it doesn’t take long for listeners to get a hint of the amount of hours that must have gone into the careful tweaking of tones, textures and techniques that are amalgamated in Cinnamon.
The EP’s lead single ‘Fatwood’ was assembled over a few weeks during the beginning of the New Zealand summer this year. Upon first listen to the track, T.G. Shand’s sonic environments are instantly reminiscent of the blissful weightlessness of Slowdive, but are uniquely her own.
‘Fatwood’ grabs our attention through its jarring intro of glitching distorted bass, which, segues into the expansive flow of the song’s main rhythm, contrasting instrumentally between tones of smoothness and grit.
Towards the song’s second half, the heavily-effected bass from its intro re-enters, along with distorted guitars and vocal effects, which blend into the peaking of the song’s sonics – a true head rush of experimentalism. T.G. Shand’s deep and articulate vocals guide us partially through the unpredictable pulsing of the song…nonetheless, we’re still dropped into the deep end.
On Cinnamon’s title track, T.G. Shand offers a mind-altering musical stream which allows a few heavenly minutes of calmness to soak through our speakers. Mellow and spacious chords proceed to leak into a semi-scrapbooking of instrumentation, as in ‘Fatwood’.
As the song expands and shrinks like a psychedelic coral forest, T.G. Shand’s vocal stylings echo the unique and spontaneous incantations of Elizabeth Fraser from Cocteau Twins. When ‘Cinnamon’ abruptly ends, we are snapped out of the tranquility that T.G. Shand has so masterfully offered to us.
Since playing at Nest Fest in January 2022, and playing select opening slots ever since, T.G. Shand’s band will re-emerge onto the scene of live Australian music next month. Treat yourself to a liitle musical paradise by streaming ‘Fatwood’ above.
Review By Corin Shearston
