Introducing: Blouse

Name: Blouse
From: Portland, Oregon
Story: More gauzy than blousy
Sound: '80s synth-pop hits on weathered VHS

Blouse's music —if we're to dare borrow their band-name's suggestive metaphor— is of the gauzy, silky, half-see-through variety. The PDX trio spin a sonic fabric big on atmosphere and echo, all opaque synths and washed-out production in service of diaphanous, drawling dream-pop.

There is, of course, plenty o' projects rolling out similar sonic tricks: half-remembered evocations of the '80s, with the sheen of a quarter-century ago giving way to a wobbly, weird, tape-degraded strangeness. But Blouse do this bit well, for two reasons that are pretty easy to quantify: Charlie Hilton has a great voice, and they write really strong songs.

Which is not to play down the sound heard across Blouse's self-titled debut LP, which is expertly handled by the band's producer-turned-bassist Jacob Portrait (who, notably, has the same exact role in Unknown Mortal Orchestra). But the meta-analog-nostalgia of "Videotapes" and retro-futurist synth-pop of "Time Travel" don't just work because of their self-reflexive sonic tricks, rather due to the fact you feel the yen to sing along from the very first spin.

Blouse's debut LP follows prior singles for Captured Tracks and Sub Pop. It comes out November 1 on Captured Tracks.

• Listen: Blouse, "Videotapes" (via The Fader)
• Visit: Blouse on Bandcamp

Photo © Jeff Luker