Milly - "Illuminate"

Earlier this week, Los Angeles shoegaze/slowcore trio Milly shared their first new music of 2022, a pummeling track called “Illuminate.” Building off of the heavy guitars and sonic sludge of the tracks heard on their first two EPs, “Illuminate” sees principal songwriter and frontman Brendan Dyer massaging some third-wave emo influences into his fuzzy, expansive, and reverberated guitar stylings. 

“Illuminate” is crushing and in your face, especially at the intersection of Dyer’s emotive vocal delivery and the muscular guitars in the choruses, where the ascending chord progression sounds very reminiscent of something by millennial emo legends Saosin or their eventual spin-off, Circa Survive. The verses establish a cleaner toned contrast that carries the hallmarks of similar influences, with ringing guitars backed by a steady bassline, but Dyer definitely continues to keep those shoegaze and slowcore elements firmly intact. Milly’s sound is still clearly rooted in the kind of massive, Marshall stacked sound that’ll blow out your eardrums.

In a press release, Dyer shared that "Illuminate" is "about the comfort found in self-expression and reminding yourself who you are by acts such as putting your favorite photos (posters) up on your wall or rearranging your room. It was written in a time when free time felt unlimited (2020) and I was staying up late self-reflecting. I was listening to Title Fight's Floral Green nonstop at this point, while also reconnecting with some records of my youth such as Hawthorne Heights' The Silence In Black and White."

The band also shared a video for the track, which you can stream below.

You can check out Illuminate on Bandcamp or stream it on your platform of choice. Keep up with the band by following them on Instagram and liking them on Facebook.