Ear Candy: Airiel paints soundscape of dreams with ethereal tone 

Lily Cole | Editor 

It’s 2022. I’m lying in my bed. It’s pitch black in my room, and the only thing giving me any form of light are the glow-in-the-dark stars on my ceiling. I have my headphones in with Spotify’s Discover Weekly feature on shuffle. I’m not asleep yet, but I’m getting there when a new song shuffles. 

The beginning is soft, almost dreamy, and crescendos into an ethereal mix of reverb-drenched guitar, smooth percussion and hazy vocals. The shimmering melodies and subtle textures give the song a floating, otherworldly quality; even though it’s ambient, it drags me out of my tiredness. I have to know what this song is. 

The title reads “In Your Room” by the shoegaze band Airiel. I immediately added it to my Liked Songs and had it on repeat for the rest of the night. Ever since then, I’ve probably listened to “In Your Room” once a day for the past three years. 

Airiel was formed in 1997 by guitarist/vocalist Jeremy Wrenn and his former bandmate Shawn Delaney. Airiel’s debut single, “Shirley Temple Tidal Wave”, was released in 1999 by Roisin Recordings. The most recent line-up for the band is Jeremy Wrenn and Andrew Marrah, who self-released the single “Bloom” on Sept. 4, 2020. The duo released an EP called “Hide & Seek” in 2024. Some of their standout hits are “In Your Room” (obviously), “Molten Young Lovers” and “Firefly.”

In a 2011 interview with When The Sun Hits (WTSH), a blog about the shoegaze genre (and play on the Slowdive song title), Wrenn said Airiel’s inspiration comes from “Cocteau Twins, Kitchens of Distinction and maybe Pale Saints.” With this in mind, Airiel’s music combines the nostalgia of early shoegaze with fresh, textured melodies and subtle synths that, while yes, you can dance to, also makes you just want to sit back and relax. 

A review of the EP, Molten Young Lovers, describes it as “a record too loud, too big, and too beautiful to be ignored.” 

The band’s lyrics are otherworldly. They evoke feeling lost in a physical and emotional private space, with a mix of longing, reflection and personal connection. The overall vibe is ambient and immersive, drawing the listener into a calm yet emotionally charged mood. They blend dreamy shoegaze and atmospheric indie rock into something you can feel in your bones. 

In the same interview with WTSH, Wrenn said his personal philosophy is, “You’re either doing the work, or you’re not.” 

Let me add a little “Lily elaboration” to that to say, you, yes, you, the reader, put in the work. Listen to Airiel. 

Listen to our playlist on Spotify:

Comments

comments