Snowcuffs’ “Burst” channels Sylvia Plath’s fig tree through kaleidoscopic dreampop

Formed in late 2022 by members of shoegaze outfits Lightfoils and Astrobrite, Snowcuffs made their mark last year with debut EP Sink Down, which drew praise for its balance of glistening textures and memorable hooks. They’ve shared the stage with contemporaries such as Cold Gawd, Seashine, and Cigarettes for Breakfast, and delivered a standout performance at Kalamashoegazer, the USA’s longest-running DIY shoegaze and dreampop festival.

“Burst” is another kaleidoscopic blend of reverb drenched vocals, flanked by synthesisers and layered guitars. It is the first of four tracks belonging to Snowcuffs' brand new Sweet Gravity EP. On “Burst”, according to vocalist Stephanie Nikolas, “It’s about the feeling of ambivalence, and not knowing what path to choose in life, how we fail to make choices when we are overwhelmed or what I like to describe as decision paralysis.”

The single is inspired by the fig tree metaphor in The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. The fig tree represents all the different lives the protagonist could live. Each fig is a future – artist, wife, intellectual, mother –and the tragedy is that she wants all of them. But by refusing to choose, the figs rot and fall. To understand how the work of Plath feeds into her lyricism, Nikolas explains “I love her poetry, and it is an avenue that I will always explore in my songwriting, it continues to inspire and I think that will always be the case.”

One could argue that dreampop is such an expansive and growing genre. That any new group could be influenced by artists as diverse as Beach House, to Melody’s Echo Chamber, all the way to Weyes Blood. Each artist waltzes in their own way, some are happy to drift in a haze but every so often a group like Snowcuffs arrives on the scene, injecting urgency into a hypnagogic sound.

To find room in such a crowded space might appear daunting, but guitarist Neil Yodname sees Snowcuffs as able to operate in their own orbit. “We feel in-between the heavier shoegaze bands and not as pretty sounding as groups like Alvvays. Our rhythm section feels complex, especially our drumming, and I think that’s not always the case with dreampop bands”.

Snowcuffs come rooted in a literary influence, and by connecting this to the sonic palette of dreampop, they secure themselves as a fascinating group to keep an eye on as the year unfolds.