Comprised of a pari of married couples, Austin, Texas’ Blushing proudly wear their shoegaze influences on their sleeves and their pedalboards – think a punchier, poppier Lush. They’ve been winning audiences over the course of two records – 2019’s self-title and 2022’s Possessions – and are set to continue doing so with their third album Sugarcoat, due May 3

They premiered the second preview track from said record last week via Flood Magazine, and its USP is that it feature guitar work from recently former Smashing Pumpkins guitarist Jeff Schroeder. Explaining how it came about, the band said:

While chatting after a Smashing Pumpkins concert one night, we made a joke about Jeff playing lead guitar on the next album. A few years later when Sugarcoat was being recorded we decided to see if Jeff would be interested in making the suggestion a reality. He enthusiastically accepted and later sent over a guitar track that flowed perfectly with ʻSeafoam.ʼ

Blushing
Blushing Enlist Ex-Smashing Pumpkins Guitarist Jeff Schroeder on New Track “Seafoam”, Flood Magazine

And of the song itself, they offer:

With this song we lean into our post punk and dark dream pop influences. A moody track with scathing vocals and a video that answers the question “What if we dressed up really fancy and wandered around an art gallery?”

Blushing @ Instagram

It’s also worth noting that the promotional tour for the new record will bring them north of the border for the first time that I’m aware of, at least, as the undercard for aughts-gaze veterans Airiel, so if you’re looking for a bill that could have “Say it Loud – I ‘Gaze and I’m Proud” t-shirts as merch, don’t miss out.