Drop Nineteens unearth hypnotic single ‘Shannon Waves’ from lost 1991 album
Drop Nineteens, the seminal shoegaze band that reemerged after a 30-year hiatus, continues to captivate with the release of ‘Shannon Waves.’ The track is the second preview from their forthcoming album 1991, due February 7, 2025, and captures the essence of a young band experimenting with sound and texture in the early days of their journey.
‘Shannon Waves’ showcases Drop Nineteens’ hallmark layered guitars and buried vocal harmonies, evoking comparisons to shoegaze contemporaries like Slowdive and My Bloody Valentine. Recorded in 1991 on an 8-track reel-to-reel during their dorm room days, the track reflects the lo-fi charm of a band on the cusp of a breakthrough. The swirling instrumentation and dreamy atmosphere underline the ambition that would later propel them to shoegaze stardom with their debut album, Delaware.
Greg Ackell, the band’s leader, reflects on the 1991 sessions, saying:
“These songs were written and recorded in 1991 on an 8-track reel to reel largely in our dorm rooms. We called them demos at the time, but now they’re just unreleased Drop Nineteens songs that never benefited from the fidelity of a recording studio. We remastered them, some 33 years later for this release, but they still evoke our infancy as a band.”
‘Shannon Waves’ is out now.
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