New Releases: Subsonic Eye

Another contender for one of my early favorites of 2025--or at least for album seemingly constructed to fit right in my sweet spot. On Singapore Dreaming, Singapore indie band Subsonic Eye mine the deep vein of women-fronted 90s indie rock, merging jangly pop with fizzy shoegaze buzz, all wondrously catchy but slathered in enough shimmery gauze to convey moods as much as hooks. (They're cut from a similar cloth as South Korean band Say Sue Me, confirming that the kids in Asia are doing a great job revisiting their parents' record collections.)

This is their third album, no big changes, though maybe more consistent than prior releases? It comes in brief at barely 30 minutes, but that just means they cut to the chase, laying down something infectious and then segueing right into the next one. They captured my attention from the get-go on opener "Aku Cemas"--the lone track not sung in English (some lyrical snippets aside), though with all the dreamy reverb the vocals throughout the album tend to blur into the music--while pivoting into more obvious pop on "Why Am I Here" (reminiscent of both Alvvays and Momma). The 30 minutes go by rather quickly, but they get the job done.

Buy it on Bandcamp.

"Aku Cemas":

"Why Am I Here":

"My iPhone Screen":