Shout out to my friend David who shared something about this band on his IG story + who always has a finger on the pulse of great new (and old, let’s be real) dream pop that flies completely under the radar. älägator is a band based in NYC that writes entirely in Finnish, a language I’ve strangely become more accustomed to seeing thanks to my relentless watching of Let’s Play videos of Finnish game Noita. The band recently released their debut EP, unen syvyydessä, via Friend Club Records and is being reissued by Disposable America.

But back to the music, the band make some really convincing 90s-reminiscent dream pop, soaked with reverb, and with a steady use of chiming acoustic guitar amongst gauzy electric moments. Sometimes slower (slowcore, maybe) pop/rock songs from the era lost you in a soup of sound, but this evades that. Tons of super engaging melodies and hooks, especially on this track “Haluan Herätä” and “Mennyt Lapsuus”. If you’re looking for a new companion for fall listening (I know I did before I came upon this) this is a great option. Glimmering, shimmering, glistening – all of the ideal dreamy music adjectives. They’re all good ones. Hopefully the band has more music in the works – I hope you’ll be watching alongside me!