Shoegazer MP3

After a long work week (President’s Day notwithstanding, at least here in the U.S.), nothing may be as soothing as a bit of navelgazing — or, more to the point, shoegazing. Yes, the genre is alive and well, and at least in the act Signaldrift‘s imagination, it has pondered (shoegazing, for all its hesitance to leave the rock song behind, is about nothing if not pondering) dropping vocals in favor of something dreamier, something less rooted in the now, something willing to relinquish any claim on the foreground. Not that “Missed but Hopeful,” a free 4:30 MP3 from Girl, Signaldrift’s new album on the Audraglint label, is a total update; there’s some reverberant guitar that’s straight out of the Cure, for example, but the typewriter percussion, the spacey effects and overall chime-y-ness is refreshing and calming, like a spiked lemonade. More info at audraglint.com.