Shane T is Sweetly Surreal on Debut LP
With baggy streetwear on display at every corner, the inescapability of The Cranberries on TikTok and the undeniable return of other early ‘90 trends, now is as good a time as any to revel in the lush melodies of shoegaze. If you’re looking to fill your headphones with floating vocals and dense guitar lines, look no further than Brooklyn-based artist Shane T, who has been writing, producing and performing his own dreamlike tracks since 2019. After six years of curating his rough-around-the-edges sound and touring with artists like The Slaps and Daniel Nunnelee, Shane has finally dropped his debut LP, Sweet.
The 11-track record is laden with reflections on growing up and life’s woe’s, all backed by his own rich production. From the 2023 release of single “Swimming Pool” to June’s “Motorbike,” the album has been a long time coming, but the result is the product of clearly thought-out production and musical passion.
Cover art for “Motorbike.”
As the opening track of Sweet, “Motorbike” perfectly sets the tone for the album. Shane’s drawn-out vocals are accompanied by a relaxed drum beat and moments of spacey synth swells, priming the next 35 minutes for a dreamy sonic experience. “Motorbike” also lays the thematic foundation of the record, with lyrics like “A couple years roll by and you still feel out of frame” and "Life leaves you behind like you’re slipping off the back of a motorbike” introducing his introspective takes on aging threaded throughout the album.
Back-to-back tracks like “Swimming Pool” — a cut from 2023 — and “Lately” cement the theme of monotony, Shane’s blunt lyrics leaving no room for doubt about the message he’s relaying. In “Swimming Pool,” for instance, he sings, “I got my mom spending like a slot machine / I maxed the credit card at my therapy,” and in “Lately,” the imagery gets clearer with lyrics like “You close your eyes and you're mowing your lawn / And you fade to black feeding the ducks in the pond / You don't know anyone now / You’ll dream and drown in whiskey and the dishes.”
As the album progresses, the production becomes less predictable and feels intentionally unpolished, as if reflecting a mental spiral. “Parallax,” a standout I wish was longer than two minutes, is teeming with dissonant chords and has a hazy atmosphere that gradually overtakes Shane’s murky vocals, while “Silver” introduces layered acoustic guitars that clash with a stringent, snare-heavy drum beat. Producing all of his own work is impressive enough, but choices like these are marks of true sophistication and have kept me hooked on Shane T.
Shane T via Instagram.
Meanwhile, tracks like “No More Questions” and “I Can Feel You Anywhere” have the energy of ones like “Deeper” and “Quick Like A Heartattack” from his 2022 EP, Night Drive. The songs are more straight-ahead indie rockers, with driving bass lines that ground listeners. At the same time, “I Can Feel You Anywhere,” specifically, has elements like a stop-and-start drum beat reminiscent of a hiccup and a post-chorus synth breakdown that keep you on your toes and make it impossible to divert your attention.
The album’s last two tracks feel like the conclusion to Shane’s thesis that is Sweet. “Bad Things,” the penultimate song, is a five-minute-long culmination of the sonic and lyrical seeds planted in the 10 preceding tracks. It’s ambient, angsty, dissonant and hopeful all at once, as if each song’s motifs have reached the bottom of a spiral to become intertwined. The main refrain, “I’ve got these bad things keeping me company / And I’ve got you picking me up / And getting me by,” helps connect the album’s gloomier themes to the light at the end of the tunnel that is the closing track, “Lucky.”
Where, in other tracks on the LP, there are brief, discordant piano interjections, the flowing, melodious piano line that opens “Lucky” feels like tying up the record with a bow. When coupled with endearing lyrics like “And no matter what happens / Know that I was glad to spend any time in my life looking you in your eyes / And knowing that I was lucky,” the lighter atmosphere of the song acts as a parting gift to listeners, and a turning point for the recently affianced Shane.
Between Shane T’s engrossing production, poignant storytelling and knack for making addicting music, Sweet is a solid debut album from an artist who knows the value of some good ole ethereal shoegaze.