‘Auralux’ is the highly anticipated debut mini-album from Irish shoegazers, Silk. Michael Smyth, songwriter/guitarist of the acclaimed but now defunct band Virgins, is the sole contributor to the project. Taking on responsibilities for all the songwriting, performance and recording, gives the project intense personal meaning for Michael. Michael says, ‘There is no beauty in perfection, it feels fake and manufactured to me. I want the record to feel real, so this is the sound of visceral self-expression.’ 2025 saw the release of three highly successful singles and Irish tours, including festival appearances at GazeFest supporting Whitelands and Sweet Sweet Noise. Lead single of the album ‘Clementine’ released earlier this year, found Silk push into darker and more abrasive territory, leaning hard into texture and density. ‘Auralux’ covers a wide range of sonic territory over its 6 tracks; celestial and euphoric guitars dove tail with impossibly thick crushing fuzz, while cascading reverse reverbs melt into one another. Lyrically the mini-album moves between themes of mortality, memory, loss, love and time. Auralux is catharsis via volume and reverb. ‘Auralux’, is released May 7th by Blowtorch Records (IRE/vinyl) and Shoredive Records (UK/CD) and will see the band embark on extensive Irish and UK tour dates, as well as an appearance at GazeFest and EU dates in early 2027.
The impetus for Silk came from marking a significant number of years circling the sun and the desire to spend the remainder of his time with joyous and creative acts. After releasing ‘Faze’ and ‘But Then, Yes’ in 2025 which Michael classes as ‘sonic experiments’ that led to full formation of the project. It wasn’t until ‘July’, now re-recorded and re-mixed for the album, that the project found its voice and the decision was made to release a larger body of work. The choice to opt for a mini album was simply to capture this period of the band, documenting evolution as writing for a full album has already begun.
Opening with title track, ‘Auralux’, we’re met with a choir of shimmering guitars, multiple layers built upon each other all contribute to the enveloping bliss. This doesn’t last long as the banks burst and we are hit with walls of fuzz and huge drums, rapturous and visceral. Verses are a call and response between vocals and guitar, as Michael sings ‘keep me out of heaven / its just another place’. The chorus becomes an exercise in maximalism, fuzzes are stacked on fuzzes, dreamy leads punctuate the vocals that in true shoegaze style sit two floors below the mix, awash with ethereal reverbs that help them become part of the nebulous dream we find ourselves in. Lyrically the song cuts across themes of loss and acceptance.
Opening with swathes of expectant feedback ‘Clementine’ wastes no time as impossibly thick fuzz guitars test your speakers to their limits. Pummeling drums are the heartbeat of the song as they accentuate the driving guitar and provide width to the expanding chorus. Modulated reverbs wrap themselves around blooming lead guitar lines, while the gnarled fuzz bass provides a melodic counterpoint to the vocals and considerable body to the track. Visceral verses give way to a wide cinematic chorus, opening like an aural hallucination awash in dreamy fuzz before a crushing exorcism-by-endless-reverb unravels in the midsection. Taking inspiration from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, lyrically the track touches on universal themes of grappling with the unending march of time and our dubious grip on memory. Melodically the vocals here are as hooky as any lead as they guide us through the hazy fog of fuzzy memories.
As ‘July’ was the song that allowed Silk to find it’s voice, it was essential that it be included on the mini album. With parts re-recorded and the song remixed for the album, it takes on a new form, leaning into a more classic shoegaze sound. Structurally the track wastes no time and puts the chorus front and center, as fuzz guitars wash over us and the mellon collie lead line drifts along accentuating the vocals. The verses in the album version are punctuated by tremolos rising out of the sonic sound scape, or wailing behind the bridge work sounding like signals from space. The constant kick drum provides an unrelenting anchor amid the whirring guitars.
Half way through, or as we flip the record to side B, ‘Slide Away’ opens with all instruments hammering the point, before opening into something more expansive. The track features two guests, with Shane McMullan (who plays bass in the live band) contributing bass and Taylor Wright from Scottish heavy-gazers Sunstinger, adding the ‘response’ vocals to the call and response chorus and taking the third verse in its entirety. ‘Slide Away’ explores the fragility of human connection against desire and the preservation of self. Musically the song is dense as it moves between a driving heaviness to introspective verses, and as the chorus hits it feels like we could be crushed under the weight of it. Michael’s drums throughout the release are powerful and driving, simple and muscular beats take preference over complicated parts or fills. When fills do make an appearance they are pounding toms or simple snare rolls, accents among the heavy rhythmic attack.
Penultimate track, ‘August’ is the oldest track on the release, having been penned long before Silk began, it jostles for position against ‘Slide Away’ as the heaviest track on the release. Huge fuzz underpinned by gnarly bass chords will test the foundations of any building or the vertebrate of any neck. There’s an emotional weight to the track as the silent vampire of ennui sets in, Michael sings ‘Splendor revealed, constantly at arm’s length / I don’t want to know’. A single note lead guitar wails during the chorus and seems to underpin the anguish expressed in the song. The middle section feels like a moment of clarity, light that breaks through darkness which edges ever closer.
Final track ‘Pleasures’ offers some solace and respite after the two darker tracks. Driven by dreamy distorted guitars the track blooms like an irradiated sunrise. With a simple chorus of ‘we are in love’, it offers a sweet juxtaposition to the darker subject matter explored across the EP. Benefitting from a more alt-rock approach the song has swathes of Siamese Dream era Pumpkins, included a soaring solo (are they allowed in shoegaze?) while still keeping one foot firmly planted in the poppier end of MBV. The track feels like it could be on an infinite fade out, a cinematic closer to the release that leaves us feeling hopeful and optimistic against the back drop of a burning world.
‘Auralux’ is a confident release this early on in the band’s lifespan. Michael is driven by filling what time remains with joyous and creative acts and that’s heard all across the release. A vast sonic tapestry of sound is on hand here, designed to evoke an emotional response from the listener as they get pulled under or shown the infinite horizon where anything can happen. ‘Auralux’ is full of texture from the celestial and euphoric to the dark and dense as it creates a palpable atmosphere for the listener to reveal in.
The album will be available to pre-order from March 5th via https://silkband.bandcamp.
You can catch the band live here:
May 14th Galway, The Ol’ 55
May 15th Cork, Fred Zeppelins
May 16th Waterford, GOMA
May 28th Dublin, Whelans Upstairs
May 30th Belfast, Ulster Sports Club
June 16th Glasgow, Hug and Pint
June 17th Hull, The New Adelphi
June 18th Northampton, The Lab
June 19th Brighton, Folklore Rooms
June 20th London, Folklore Rooms
June 21st Edinburgh, Banshee Labyrinth
Aug 28th Dublin, GazeFest
Aug 29th Belfast, GazeFest
