• DOWNLOAD | ENGINEERS “Something I Realise” Three Fact Fader, 2009

I usually cringe whenever a record is described as “shoegaze” — much less “nu-gaze” — but the new album by Engineers succeeds where most others fail. The traces of Slowdive or My Bloody Valentine are, let’s face it, inevitable. But Three Fact Fader never quite falls down the rabbithole of delay pedals and self-important noodling; underneath the ambience is an elegant display of self-restraint. The point being that, underneath the reverb, there are songs here.

“Something I Realise” — the British spelling, natch — references Going Blank Again the way that Elbow’s first record referenced Spirit of Eden: respectfully, but from a distance.

Photo: Allan1952