New Noise: 4 Shoegaze Acts to Check Out from Total Feedback 2026

Guest writer Kanra introduces four great acts from the iconic shoegaze compilation series

This is a feature from This Side of Japan issue #101. You can return to the main issue here. We have guest writer Kanra introducing us four great shoegaze acts from the newest edition of Total Feedback, a compilation series that coincides with a monthly live-music event of the same name. They contributed to This Side of Japan last year for “The Year in Japanese Shoegaze in 7 Songs.” You can find Kanra’s writing over at Substack, and you can find them on X.

2008 was a turning point for a certain corner of Japanese indie music. Shoegaze and dream-pop bands had been steadily bubbling over in the country’s live venues in the last 15 years. But despite a handful of breakout acts that infused some of the genre’s sensibilities into a more palatable alt-rock framework, like Supercar and ART-SCHOOL, they’ve been mostly confined to small print runs, tiny rooms and limited music-press attention. Regardless, three events would occur that, consciously or not, would set the stage for how Japan’s shoegaze scene would evolve moving into the 2010s.

First would be the return of Cruyff in the Bedroom, the “godfathers of Japanese shoegaze,” with their first new album in five years, Saudargia. Next would be a phenomenal showing from arguably the genre’s most seminal act, Ireland’s My Bloody Valentine, at 2008’s Fuji Rock Festival. The set would get a TV broadcast and proved that Japanese audiences still had the thirst for this oft-maligned genre long after its early-’90s peak.

The third was the launch of Total Feedback. Handled by Cruyff in the Bedroom leader Hata Yusuke and Only Feedback, the label he launched for the band’s albums, Total Feedback would be a monthly event at Koenji High in Shimokitazawa that gathered together shoegaze bands from across the country to celebrate “The Scene That Celebrates Itself.” Later that year, a compilation of the same name was released of the bands who played these events, combining established names like CONDOR44, Luminousorange and Mash with fresh new faces like my dead girlfriend, Plastic Girl in Closet and Brownsugar (later Sugardrop). Several of these new bands would go on to have long careers afterwards, even eclipsing the old guard in popularity as shoegaze would explode both in Japan and internationally in the years to come.

The events would press on, and a 10th anniversary comp in 2018 would make the albums into a franchise, becoming a biannual pulse check on the state of Japanese shoegaze. Scene staples like RAY, LUCY’S DRIVE, Sphere and MoritaSaki in the Pool would all contribute unreleased material, and this upcoming collection especially pays attention to upstart young artists that could carry the torch of the genre further into the 2030s. Here are four acts featured in the newest collection that you should check out.

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Suisou to Clematis

As both the shoegaze and underground idol movements surged in Japanese live houses during the 2010s, Total Feedback compilations would begin to document where these two scenes intersect with every album having an undercurrent of idol-ness around at least one of the acts. Dots Tokyo were on the 2018 comp. RAY and fedress were on the 2020 album. Ex-BiS Manako’s band project killmilky was on the 2022 record and ex-yumegiwa last girl Rin having her (Parannoul-cosigned!) solo project UTERO on the last comp in 2024.

It’s only natural that 2026 continues the trend by including idol group Suisou To Clematis. They started in 2022 as a four-member group, a project centering around “love, live shows, and journeys.” There’s a lot of RAY’s DNA in Suisou to Clematis, from having guest artists from the shoegaze scene—like Cruyff in the Bedroom’s Hata Yusuke or The Deep Sleep—coming in to produce music, to their noisy pop melodies, to even having two ex-RAY members Kai Marino and Tsukihi Moka on their founding lineup. While they’ve had quite a few lineup changes over the last few years, including losing Kai, Suisou to Clematis haven’t let that stop them from steadily producing a slew of singles and EPs while mixing in originals and covers into their repertoire.

2026 was also the perfect time for them to show up on a Total Feedback compilation as the group finally released their first full-length album, Port Town, on December 18th last year, an early Christmas gift to shoegazing wota over the world. While the production on Port Town is rougher around the edges compared to RAY’s glossier anthems, it sounds alive and energetic like a rowdy gig in a Shimokitazawa basement club. The success of Dots and RAY have started to sprout groups following in their footsteps, and I hope Suisou to Clematis leads to many more groups like them in their wake.

Lemuria in Reverie

Besides Suisou To Clematis, Lemuria in Reverie were the group I was the most familiar with and excited for going into this compilation. I found their debut EP Galaxy Chaser on Bandcamp while building what would become my ongoing Japanese shoegaze calendar, and it blew me away immediately. It’s an instant genre classic that hits every note I want a traditional shoegaze album to hit, marrying the noise and walls of reverb with heavenly vocals and ethereal melodies. Singer Marika isn’t considered a part of the band, credited instead as a guest on every song on the record with vocals, but her vocals play a tremendous role in making these songs powerful. The deep, rich tones of her voice were born for this style of music, and I can only hope that she could become a permanent part of the band in the future. If names like COLLAPSE, Oeil or Burrrn already fire you up, Lemuria in Reverie will instantly become your next favorite.

Cii

When kurayamisaka dropped their hit debut album last year, it set Twitter ablaze not just over the group’s sound and image but over a broader conversation of genre. As their songs started expanding away from heavy walls of guitars towards sharper pop songwriting, arguments set off over whether it was right to call kurayamisaka shoegaze at all.

A project like Cii getting included here could very well spark the same debates. Cii made their debut with 2023’s EP Sore wa Sore wa, three songs of no-nonsense melodic shoegaze that clearly worshipped Hitsujibungaku’s early work. Two years later would see the Osaka band retool their sound for their debut album Shii, taking more influence from dreamy emo and indie-rock bands like downt and hitsujibungaku’s later work. (“Tarinai” is clearly influenced by that band’s Jujutsu Kaisen tie-in “More Than Words.”) What makes these songs really work comes down to lead singer Kanon’s heartfelt vocals, which feel raw and imperfect while still commanding over the music. While Cii aren’t the most ardent in sticking to the shoegaze textbook, they still create just the right vibe to fit alongside all of these other bands, a reminder of the ways shoegaze manages to warp itself around Japan’s underground music scene to fit wherever it needs to.

kinyou no yoru

One of the rewards of following any kind of underground rock band, especially if you catch them early in their career, is seeing their growth over time. As the longest-running band of anybody on this year’s Total Feedback compilation, kinyou no yoru represent the benefits of grinding it out as you find your sound along the way. Formed in 2016, vocalist Sayuri and drummer Mie would work as a two-piece starting in 2020 for their first EP, Still I have been drowning in the past. While that EP did show promise, you could tell that the band were still trying to find their footing after losing their bassist, its sophomoric indie-rock sound feeling like it’s hiding its true feelings.

After two one-off singles, their 2023 EP abstract painting feels like a major step forward. The instrumentation is much more assured and so are Sayuri’s vocals as they tear open the title track as if to say: “this is who we really are.” Last year’s “night flight” is kinyou no yoru at their most realized, their noisiest and catchiest yet. It’s a release that could’ve seen the band become indie sensations, a template they could work off of to do even bigger and better things. Sadly, it wasn’t meant to be.

After the release of “night flight,” the band announced they were suspending activities after a handful of sendoff shows. Their unreleased contribution to this year’s Total Feedback could very well be the last we hear from them. I would still recommend going back to their releases, though. While their breakup leaves many what if’s around their music, what kinyou no yoru left behind is still an ode to working with others and perfecting your craft. Even if you’re unsure of yourself at first, you never know where the road might take you. It could lead to something truly special.

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