Wisp unveils critically acclaimed debut EP Pandora
PRAISE FOR Wisp
“Fuelled by a genuine love for hazy music and an instinctual understanding of what makes the style work, Wisp is the unassuming shoegaze savior the genre deserves.”
“Bringing back shoegaze with vengeance, Wisp is the enigmatic Californian rockstar on the cusp of greatness.”
“'Once then we’ll be free' is her latest manifesto; the lo-fi, echoing vocals are an off-kilter match with the scaling, sharp guitar riffs, which echo Johnny Marr if he grew up listening to American Football and Mogwai.”
“Creates a mystifying veil between its listener and the outside world...it is only a matter of time before Wisp becomes Gen-Z’s go-to ethereal fix.”
“Wisp is the project of a 19-year-old teen from San Francisco who no one knows anything about except that they’re making remarkably great, moody shoegaze.”
“Blends the gauzy vocals of Yeule and the ‘90s hooks of Soccer Mommy…sterling, riveting.”
TRACKLIST
Pandora
Your face
Enough for you
Luna
See you soon
Mimi
Pandora EP by Wisp is out now, buy/stream it here.
Today, the 19-year-old shoegaze artist on the tip of everyone’s tongue, Wisp, shares her anxiously anticipated debut EP Pandora, via Music Soup/Interscope Records. She’s also about to embark upon a hefty US Tour with headline and support dates with Panchiko, starting this month. LISTEN HERE.
The title track opens up the EP with a slight crackling of an analogue tape popping quietly under a tremolo of strings, which quickly cracks open to Wisp’s signature precise maximalism with a wall of guitar. Her intuitive understanding of songcraft, desire to continue evolving, and focus on creating music in a world of content creators is palpably refreshing; a cleansing wash of distortion and twisting melodies.
Wisp says, “‘Pandora is about the vulnerability and intensity of romantic relationships. The songs range from topics like mistaking infatuation for love, to the feeling of true love. I wanted the EP to showcase the complexity of what we all hope to find, even if its finding ourselves first.”
Following her breakout single ‘Your face‘ that rocketed into view last summer – amassing tens of millions of streams and attracting a cult fanbase eager to parse out Wisp’s mysterious social media presence – and the follow-ups that squashed any question of one-hit-wonderdom, ‘Once then we’ll be free‘, ‘See you soon‘ and ‘Enough for you‘, the first complete project Pandora perfectly inhabits every dark corner and patch of light associated with the shoegaze genre. Inspired by the likes of Whirr and Deftones, Wisp has crafted a distinct and sophisticated sound that strives to realise the expansive possibilities of rock music.
With Consequence recently hailing her as “the unassuming shoegaze saviour the genre deserves,” as their Artist of the Month, simultaneously subverting and delivering on the listener’s expectations, she’s “more than just a quick, TikTok-bolstered flash in the pan.” More locally Junkee recount, “She only has four songs out, which all feature wistful yet candy-sweet melodies over crushing guitars, but written and structured like 2020s alt-pop… it’s remarkable in that no one’s ever done it before.”
For her previous singles, Wisp graced the global cover of Apple Music’s New Music Daily playlist, reached hundreds of millions of streams across all platforms, was named an artist to watch by NYLON, Pigeons & Planes, Spotify Lorem Artist To Watch, Amazon Breakthrough Artists, Consequence Artist of the Month, and YouTube Music Artist On The Rise Trending, and played her live debut in Los Angeles to two sold-out crowds of die-hard fans wearing homemade merch. Finally, Pandora, and therefore Wisp, has arrived in full as we witness a defining moment in the genre’s history.
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