Nagoya duo Blurred City Lights are one of the newer Japanese dreampop artists to have caught my ear, with their debut album 天​使​の​い​な​い​街​で (In A City Without Angels) one of the genre highlights of the year so far. Though quite fresh-faced and with an unabashed bedroom studio aesthetic, they’ve crafted a debut that demonstrates both affection and affinity for classically-styled shoegaze pop, but also ambitions beyond that particular pigeonhole. Album closer “citylights” does a good job of encapsulating their strengths and charms; I haven’t quite put my finger on what it is, but there’s something that elevates the duo above their (many) young peers. I’ll keep listening until I figure out what that is… and keep listening.

And here’s a live reading of the same tune from last month at the release show for their album in Tokyo.