Shoegaze is a subgenre of indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion and effects, feedback, and overwhelming volume. It emerged in Ireland and the United Kingdom in the late 1980s among neo-psychedelic groups who usually stood motionless during live performances in a detached, non-confrontational state. The name comes from the heavy use of effects pedals, as the performers were often looking down at their pedals during concerts.
Duster is an American indie rock band, formed in San Jose, California in 1996. For most of its history, the group consisted of multi-instrumentalists Clay Parton and Canaan Dove Amber alongside drummer Jason Albertini before Albertini left the band in 2022.
Elley Frances Duhé is an American singer.
Maia, known professionally as mxmtoon, is an American singer-songwriter and YouTuber. Her music is characterized by emotionally transparent, confessional lyrics and often employs the ukulele. She released her first EP, Plum Blossom (2018); her debut album, The Masquerade (2019); the 2020 twin EPs—Dawn, Dusk; and her second studio album Rising (2022). In 2024, she released her third studio album, Liminal Space.
Beatrice Kristi Ilejay Laus, known professionally as Beabadoobee, is a Fiipino-British singer-songwriter, and guitarist. From 2018 to 2021, she released five extended plays (EPs) under the independent label Dirty Hit: Lice (2018), Patched Up (2018), Loveworm (2019), Space Cadet (2019) and Our Extended Play (2021). Her debut studio album Fake It Flowers was released in October 2020, and received critical acclaim. Her second studio album, Beatopia, was released on 15 July 2022, which spawned the hit "The Perfect Pair." Her third studio album, This Is How Tomorrow Moves, was released on 9 August 2024; it became her first album to peak atop the UK Albums Chart.
For music from a year in the 2020s, go to 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24
Charli Grace D'Amelio is an American social media personality and dancer. She was a competitive dancer for over a decade before starting her social media career in 2019, when she began posting dance videos on the video-sharing platform TikTok. She quickly amassed a large following and subsequently became the most-followed creator on the platform in March 2020 until she was surpassed by Khaby Lame in June 2022. With over 155 million followers, she is the second most-followed person on TikTok, as of 2024.
Black Dresses was a Canadian noise pop duo consisting of Ada Rook and Devi McCallion, formed in 2017. Their debut album, Wasteisolation, was released independently in 2018. The duo released three additional albums, Thank You (2019), Love and Affection for Stupid Little Bitches (2019), and Peaceful as Hell (2020), before breaking up in 2020 in response to harassment received by McCallion. Despite maintaining their declaration of disbandment in 2020, Black Dresses released three additional albums, Forever in Your Heart (2021), Forget Your Own Face (2022), and Laughingfish (2024). Upon releasing Laughingfish, the band announced that it would be their final album.
Penelope Scott is an American musician, singer-songwriter, and producer. She has produced all of her own music. After releasing the compilation albums Junkyard (2020) and The Junkyard 2 (2020), Scott released her debut album, Public Void, in August 2020. Her song "Rät" peaked at no. 29 on Billboard's Hot Rock & Alternative Songs Chart. Scott released the EP Hazards in 2021 and the EPs Girl's Night and Mysteries for Rats in November 2023.
Elizabeth Catherine McAlpine is an American singer-songwriter and record producer. In 2020, she released her debut studio album, Give Me a Minute, to critical acclaim. Her second album, Five Seconds Flat (2022), gave her her first appearance on both the U.S. Billboard 200 and the Billboard Hot 100, with the TikTok-viral single "Ceilings". Following her 2023 signing with RCA Records, McAlpine released her third studio album, Older, on April 5, 2024, which was supported by the lead single of the same name.
Janesa Jaida "Nessa" Barrett is an American singer-songwriter. She rose to fame on TikTok and began uploading covers, which led her to sign a recording contract with Warner Records. She released her debut single, Pain, in 2020. She has released two studio albums, Young Forever (2022) and Aftercare (2024). Barrett has also released two EPs, Pretty Poison (2021), and Hell Is a Teenage Girl (2023).
Will Kraus, known mononymously as Kraus, is an American shoegaze musician. In 2021, Carly Wu of Far Out Magazine elected his second studio album Path as the 18th best shoegaze album of all time.
Victoria Beverley Walker, known professionally as PinkPantheress, is an English singer, songwriter, and record producer. Her songs, which are frequently short in length and include samples of music from the 1990s and 2000s, span a number of genres, including alt-pop, bedroom pop, drum and bass, and 2-step garage. She has been nominated for three Brit Awards and was named Producer of the Year by Billboard Women in Music in 2024.
They Are Gutting a Body of Water is an American shoegaze band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The band was initially the solo project of songwriter and guitarist Douglas Dulgarian, but has expanded to a full lineup including bassist Emily Lofing, guitarist PJ Carroll, and drummer Ben Opatut.
"Your Face" is the debut single by American musician Wisp. It was released on April 4, 2023 as the first single from her debut EP Pandora.
Sophie Brown, known professionally as ratbag, is a New Zealand musician and multimedia artist. Active since 2021, her music draws influence from grunge, shoegaze, punk, and pop, and often features surreal horror-inspired visuals centered on a fictional cartoon band of monsters, which she depicts in various artistic mediums. After building a following on TikTok, Brown released her debut EP, why aren't you laughing?, in December 2023.
Pandora is the debut EP by American shoegaze musician Wisp, released on April 5, 2024, through Music Soup & Interscope Records. It was first announced on March 15 with the release of a single, "Enough For You", alongside a U.S. tour announcement. The EP includes the previously released tracks "Your Face" and "See You Soon".
"Nasty" is a song by American singer and songwriter Tinashe. It was released on April 12, 2024, via producer Ricky Reed's Atlantic Records imprint Nice Life Recording Company, as the lead single from her seventh studio album, Quantum Baby, which was released in August 2024. A sexual R&B song written by Tinashe and Reed and produced by Zack Sekoff and Reed, it has a sparse beat and various innuendos, with Tinashe rap-singing in a deadpan tone about looking for a lover who has an equivalent sex drive to hers. Its release coincided with her performance at the 2024 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival and with the release of its music video.
Quannnic is an American musician. Initially presenting a digicore sound, they began releasing music as Quannnic in 2020 and released their debut studio album, Kenopsia, in February the following year. A track from the album, "Life Imitates Life", unexpectedly went viral on TikTok and charted on Billboard's Hot Hard Rock Songs. Quannnic's second studio album, Stepdream, was released in November 2023, and they later co-headlined an American tour with Jane Remover. On Quannnic's musical style, sources mostly described it as shoegaze, with Kenopsia mixing glitch elements and Stepdream emo.
