Genre hybrid obsessives, all seven of you, should be well aware of blackgaze by now – the fusion if black metal with shoegaze, more of which you can read about here. But what of robgaze, a trend currently sloping its way through the internet? The all-new movement begins today; as shoegaze band Ride unveil remixes of their classic track Vapour Trail, reworked by the Cure frontman Robert Smith.
Smith and Ride’s relationship traces back to the early 1990s, when the Oxford band supported the Cure at the Great British Weekend event in 1991 - he also made his admiration for this particular track known during the Beautiful Noise documentary.
Smith’s remixes feature a skewered, space-like take on the song compared to the Nowhere album version, extending the introduction and adding drum pads and what sounds like a Melodion to the first take, and an echoed effect to the vocals on the second.
Entitled Vapour Trail – Disintegrated, they will be available to purchase as a double A-side bundle or as individual tracks from 9 October. The robgaze remix coincides with the 25th anniversary of Nowhere, Ride’s debut, and is launched ahead of the band’s nine-date UK tour which begins in Leeds on 11 October.
Take a listen and please share any thoughts on the robgaze revolution.
