You Turn Me by Drone Dimension (Review)

Drone Dimension was well on their way to becoming a shining light in the “nu-gaze” movement.
You Turn Me EP - Drone Dimension

I first became familiar with Drone Dimension via their first (and last) full-length, Faintly Acquainted. Firmly rooted in the shoegazer/noise-pop tradition of My Bloody Valentine, Swervedriver, and the Jesus & Mary Chain, it was a delightful little release.

Sadly, Drone Dimension are no more and Faintly Acquainted is essentially out of print (though you can find used copies here and there). But just before their demise, Drone Dimension released the 3-song EP You Turn Me on Dreamland Recordings, which featured three songs from their full-length.

The title track is especially lovely, a two minute slice of everything that is good and golden about shoegazer and bliss-pop. “Slowdrone” is, as the title implies, slower and mellower, with gentle guitars and synths raining down around vocalist Rebecca Lima like a perfect summer rain. The EP closes out with “Serotonin,” where the band sighs “And if we die today/The world is gonna change” against a backdrop of mournful slide guitar, walls of fuzzy noise, and solemn drums.

A lot has been made about the so-called “nu-gaze” movement, a collection of artists further exploring the sonic environments first mapped out in the early ’90s by Ride, Slowdive, Chapterhouse et al. And though they only released just a handful of material, I think there are inklings in these tracks that Drone Dimension was well on their way to becoming a shining light in the movement. Thankfully, the band has reformed as The Vera Violets, and seem to have picked up right where You Turn Me left off.

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