Causeway - “Loser"

SXSW 2023 - OEB Score: 8; Popularity Index: 3

Pairs Well With…Beach House, Chromatics, Galaxie 500

Peak dream pop, Causeway have captured a hypnotic, moving, and catchy sound on their synth-led debut We Were Never Lost. Consistently lush and airy, Causeway balance that spaciousness with washed industrial slices and new-wave rock density. By keeping things ambient and psychedelic at times, it makes it hit that much harder when a four-on-the-floor rhythm starts pulsing midway through a track. While the Boise, Idaho based duo has reverence for 80s pop melodies, they are keen to never go full throwback, instead melding them into either electro-pop or post-rock inventions. Are Causeway dark or light? The answer is truly both, the key to their sound standing out among their chillwave peers. Causeway are worth a long listen, so queue We Were Never Lost up at the start to lose yourself in their precise and memorable songcraft. Catch Causeway Wednesday night at Elysium for Italians Do It Better & Holodeck. (Kevin McStravick)