{{Short description|2000s shoegaze revival movement}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}} {{Infobox art movement | name = Nu gaze | image = | alt = | caption = | branch = | yearsactive = 2000s | location = Europe, North America | majorfigures = | influences = Shoegaze | influenced = }} [[File:Panic Switch - Silversun Pickups.ogg|thumb|right|A sample of Silversun Pickups's song "Panic Switch", from their 2009 album ''Swoon''.]]
'''Nu gaze''' (also typeset as '''nu-gaze''' and sometimes known as '''second-wave shoegaze''') was an international shoegaze revival movement that took place during the 2000s. The movement was influenced by the original shoegaze movement but embraced a more diverse array of influences, particularly from electronic music. Often, bands in the movement were faster and included cleaner production than those in shoegaze's first-wave.
Nu gaze began around 2000, with England's My Vitriol, Sweden's the Radio Dept. and France's M83. The 2003 soundtrack for the film ''Lost in Translation'' helped accelerate the revival when Deerhunter, Maps and Asobi Seksu began to gain attention. The movement had declined by 2013, succeeded by a separate shoegaze revival including DIIV, Cheatahs and Wild Nothing. During the 2020s, nu gaze's name was adopted for a separate genre: those merging elements of shoegaze and nu metal.
== Characteristics == ''Pitchfork'' described nu-gaze as a diverse spectrum of bands from around the world who incorporated both analog and digital production in their shoegaze-adjacent sound and approach.<ref name="Revere, 2017">{{cite web |last=de Revere |first=Paul |title=Ride's Nowhere at 25 and the Evolution of Shoegaze |website=Pitchfork |date=27 October 2015 |url= https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/945-rides-nowhere-at-25-and-the-evolution-of-shoegaze/ |access-date = 2025-12-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240203101335/https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/945-rides-nowhere-at-25-and-the-evolution-of-shoegaze/ |archive-date=3 Feb 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref> In nu gaze, tempos were often faster than traditional shoegaze, and vocals were mixed more prominently.<ref name="Bloom, 2010">{{cite web |last1=BLOOM |first1=J ARTHUR |title=Music Review: Amusement Parks on Fire - Road Eyes |url=https://www.tinymixtapes.com/music-review/amusement-parks-fire-road-eyes |website=Tiny Mix Tapes |access-date=22 January 2026 |language=en}}</ref> Often, bands showed an influence from 1990s shoegaze, blending jangly indie with layers of distortion.<ref name="guardian" />
== Etymology == ===2000s–2010s: Origins=== [[File:MyVitriol.Nov24.KOKO.jpg|thumb|My Vitriol vocalist Som Wardner is often credited as coining the name "nu gaze"]] As early as 2001, My Vitriol vocalist Som Wardner had identified his band using the name "nu-gaze".<ref name="Morgan, 2016">{{cite web |last1=Morgan |first1=Steven |title=Whatever Happened To My Vitriol? |url=https://drownedinsound.com/in_depth/4150558-whatever-happened-to-my-vitriol |website=DrownedInSound |access-date=22 January 2026 |language=en |date=26 October 2016}}</ref> By 2005, it had been used to describe Ambulance LTD,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Smart |first1=James |title=Ambulance LTD |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2005/jun/13/popandrock3 |website=The Guardian |access-date=22 January 2026 |date=13 June 2005}}</ref> and by 2006 to describe the Morning After Girls.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Strutt |first1=Anthony |title=Miscellaneous - Interview |url=https://pennyblackmusic.co.uk/Home/Details?id=13704 |website=www.pennyblackmusic.co.uk |access-date=22 January 2026 |language=en}}</ref> In 2007, Jude Rogers of ''the Guardian'' noted the name as being used interchangeably with "stargaze" and "shoetronica", crediting their popularity as due to a stigma around the name "shoegaze".<ref name="guardian" />
In a 2009 editorial for ''Drowned in Sound'', Cramp dismissed nu-gaze as a "bad pun", emphasizing that it was not a distinct music scene but rather a renewed interest in shoegaze.<ref>{{cite web |last=Cramp |first=Nathaniel |title=Shoegaze Week: "There's no such thing as Nu‑Gaze" |website=Drowned in Sound |date=20 April 2009 |url=https://drownedinsound.com/in_depth/4136631-shoegaze-week--there%E2%80%99s-no-such-thing-as-nu-gaze-by-sonic-cathedral |access-date=2025-12-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240902141200/https://drownedinsound.com/in_depth/4136631-shoegaze-week--there%E2%80%99s-no-such-thing-as-nu-gaze-by-sonic-cathedral |archive-date=2024-09-02 |url-status=live}}</ref> By the 2010s, nu gaze was largely used synonymously with the phrase "second-wave shoegaze".<ref name="Enis, 2024" /><ref name="Revere, 2017" />
===2020s: Semantic shift=== {{See also|Zoomergaze|Nu metal}} By the 2020s, "nu gaze" had fallen out of common use. During 2023, the term saw a revived use on internet forum sites Reddit and 4chan, where a semantic shift took place from meaning second-wave shoegaze to instead refer to the fusion of nu metal and shoegaze practiced by grungegaze bands Bleed and later Narrow Head.<ref name="Stewart, 2026">{{cite web |last1=Stewart |first1=Ethan |title=Why Grungegaze Dominates 2026's Music Underground » PopMatters |url=https://www.popmatters.com/why-grungegaze-dominates-2026 |website=PopMatters |access-date=13 March 2026 |date=10 March 2026}}</ref> Eli Enis, former editor of ''Revolver'', observed this in a 2024 article. He noted this fusion as largely descending from the shoegaze-influenced sound of Deftones, listing examples of this style as Narrow Head, Wisp, Loathe, Fleshwater, Trauma Ray, Trxy and Leaving Time.<ref name="Enis, 2024">{{cite web |last1=Enis |first1=Eli |title=How shoegaze and nu-metal became entwined: A brief explainer |url=https://www.elienis.com/how-shoegaze-numetal-became-entwined-explained/ |website=Chasing Sundays |access-date=21 January 2026 |language=en |date=27 June 2024}}</ref> This definition has been stated by ''Stereogum'',<ref>{{cite web |last1=Enis |first1=Eli |title=TikTok Has Made Shoegaze Bigger Than Ever |url=https://stereogum.com/2245469/tiktok-has-made-shoegaze-bigger-than-ever/columns/sounding-board |website=Stereogum |access-date=10 February 2026 |language=en |date=18 December 2023}}</ref> Ultimate Guitar,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Martins |first1=Jorge |title=They Were Metal Innovators Reinvented as Alt-Rock Promises: Although Their '90s Nostalgia Could've Failed, It Sparked Cult Hits Instead |url=https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/articles/features/they-were-metal-innovators-reinvented-as-alt-rock-promises-although-their-90s-nostalgia-couldve-failed-it-sparked-cult-hits-instead-182969 |website=Ultimate Guitar |access-date=10 February 2026 |language=en}}</ref> and Epitaph Records.<ref>{{cite web |title=Buzzy “Nu-Gaze” Band Split Chain Sign To Epitaph Records Share Music Video For “(Re)-Extract” feat. Softcult |url=https://www.epitaph.com/news/article/buzzy-nu-gaze-band-split-chain-sign-to-epitaph-records-share-music-video-fo |website=Epitaph Records |access-date=10 February 2026 |language=en |date=17 September 2024}}</ref> Enis also noted the influence of Title Fight as a core part of the sound,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Enis |first1=Eli |title=Chasing Fridays: Fleshwater, Sword II, End It Q&A, more |url=https://www.elienis.com/chasing-fridays-fleshwater-sword-ii-end-it-interview-more/ |website=Chasing Sundays |access-date=27 March 2026 |language=en |date=12 September 2025}}</ref> which was echoed by ''Consumed'' magazine, who said nu-gaze grew out of soft grunge.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Pramayougha |first1=Prabu |title=Memperkenalkan: Bitter Colour |url=https://consumedmagazine.com/memperkenalkan-bitter-colour/ |website=Consume |access-date=11 February 2026 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250806211132/https://consumedmagazine.com/memperkenalkan-bitter-colour/ |archive-date=August 6, 2025}}</ref>
In 2026, ''PopMatters'' writer Ethan Stewart observed that nu-gaze "crested" in 2025 with releases by Bleed, Fleshwater, Split Chain and Oversize.<ref name="Stewart, 2026" /> ''Kerrang!'' writer Jake Richardson credited Split Chain as "pioneers of a raucous brand of nu-gaze".<ref name="Stewart, 2026" /><ref>{{cite web |last1=Richardson |first1=Jake |title=10 reasons why you need Split Chain in your life |url=https://www.kerrang.com/10-reasons-why-you-need-split-chain-in-your-life-nu-gaze-deftones-tony-hawk-epitaph |website=Kerrang! |access-date=13 March 2026 |language=en |date=28 January 2025}}</ref>
An article by ''Splice'' specified that this definition is explicitly hyphenated as "nu-gaze", while the traditional definition is unhyphenated as "nu gaze".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Wood |first1=Dylan |title=What is Shoegaze? History, Bands, and Key Characteristics |url=https://splice.com/blog/what-is-shoegaze-music/ |website=Splice |access-date=10 February 2026 |date=12 June 2025}}</ref>
According to Claudio Lancia of the Italian magazine ''Ondarock'', the 2020s definition of nu-gaze has a subgenre called zoomergaze, which is defined by being played by musicians born in generation Z.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lancia |first1=Claudio |title=Mondaze - Linger: :: Le Recensioni di OndaRock |url=https://www.ondarock.it/recensioni/2024-mondaze-linger.htm |website=OndaRock |access-date=10 February 2026 |language=it}}</ref> In 2025, a few prominent American news outlets referred to Wisp and her debut album ''If Not Winter'' as "nu-gaze".<ref>{{citation |title='If Not Winter' by Wisp Review: A 'Nu-Gaze' on a Familiar Genre |date=July 29, 2025 |work=The Wall Street Journal |url=https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/music/if-not-winter-by-wisp-review-a-nu-gaze-on-a-familiar-genre-7db6780c |access-date=September 14, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250730002119/https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/music/if-not-winter-by-wisp-review-a-nu-gaze-on-a-familiar-genre-7db6780c |archive-date=2025-07-30 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{citation |title='Nu-gaze' rocker went viral before her band even had a name |date=August 13, 2025 |work=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/2025/08/13/wisp-natalie-lu-shoegaze-tour/ |access-date=September 14, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250814172502/https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/2025/08/13/wisp-natalie-lu-shoegaze-tour/ |archive-date=2025-08-14 |url-status=live}}</ref>
== History == Around 2000, an international wave of bands taking influence from shoegaze began to take shape with England's My Vitriol, Sweden's the Radio Dept. and France's M83. Following the release of their debut album ''Finelines'' (2001), My Vitriol experienced a sudden rise in notoriety, its single "Always: Your Way" entering the UK's top 40 charts, leading them to perform at Top Of The Pops, Glastonbury Festival and Reading Festival. The following year the band went on hiatus, leading to the rise in popularity of the Radio Dept. and M83.<ref name="Morgan, 2016" />
The 2003 release of Sofia Coppola's film ''Lost in Translation'' helped accelerate the revival, due to its soundtrack being curated by My Bloody Valentine's Kevin Shields. By 2007, the movement had led to an increased notoriety of contemporary albums by artists including Maps, Blonde Redhead, Mahogany, Deerhunter, Asobi Seksu, and Ulrich Schnauss.<ref name="guardian">{{cite news |last=Rogers |first=Jude |date=27 July 2007 |title=Diamond gazers |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2007/jul/27/popandrock |access-date=2 December 2025 |work=The Guardian |archive-date=7 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170307045900/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2007/jul/27/popandrock |url-status=live}}</ref> Other notable acts in the movement included Autolux,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Gourlay |first1=Dom |title=Album Review: Autolux - Future Perfect |url=https://drownedinsound.com/releases/4147/reviews/12654- |website=DrownedInSound |access-date=22 January 2026 |language=en |date=18 July 2005}}</ref> Silversun Pickups, Amusement Parks on Fire and Film School.<ref name="Bloom, 2010" />
Nu-gaze had declined by 2013, succeeded by a separate shoegaze revival including DIIV, Cheatahs, Wild Nothing, Younghusband, Echo Lake, Teen and Melody's Echo Chamber.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Iqbal |first1=Nosheen |title=Shoegaze: the genre that could not be killed |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/apr/12/shoegazing-back-in-fashion |website=The Guardian |access-date=22 January 2026 |date=12 April 2013}}</ref>
== See also ==
==References== <references />
{{Alternative rock}}
Category:Shoegaze Category:British styles of music Category:Rock music genres Category:21st-century music genres