There’s an intimacy embedded in INU INU’s music. The four-member Dutch and English band can grip an emotion and wring every drop of sound from it the way only a close friend can.
“Say it to me once more,” they intone in the second track of their live EP. The song, called “Visions”, wades through the inner turmoil of knowing a love is over before it even started.
The female lead vocals twist through each line, gliding from truthful reflection to shattering head voice delivery. Her melody continuously rises and rests on the bed of electric guitar picking, gently shifting from chord to chord in subtle ways that wash the progression forward.
While the track stays true to shoegaze-standard elements like vocal harmonies blurring into the instrument tracks, INU INU bring ’80s influences into the harmony and a raw mix of instruments inspired by other DIY indie groups. It’s a blend of genres and styles that culminates in the “Visions” outro: out-of-phase melodic rifts drifting over each other echoing into silence.
The accompanying music video—a collaboration with videographer Lester Kamstra—intensifies the hard edges of their soft sound. By mirroring the tone, it emphasizes the stunning emptiness and stark truths behind each musical line.
Watch the live performance below.
Ben is an advertising Madman who spends his days with words and music. When he’s not writing for his supper, he’s eating it at some of NYC’s most interesting restaurants.
