Nu gaze

Nu gaze (also typeset as nu-gaze and sometimes known as second-wave shoegaze) was an international shoegaze revival movement that took place during the 2000s. The movement was influenced by the

Characteristics#

Pitchfork described nu-gaze as a diverse spectrum of bands from around the world who incorporated both analog and digital production in their shoegaze-adjacent sound and approach. In nu gaze, tempos were often faster than traditional shoegaze, and vocals were mixed more prominently. Often, bands showed an influence from 1990s shoegaze, blending jangly indie with layers of distortion.

2000s–2010s: Origins#

As early as 2001, My Vitriol vocalist Som Wardner had identified his band using the name “nu-gaze”. By 2005, it had been used to describe Ambulance LTD, and by 2006 to describe the Morning After Girls. In 2007, Jude Rogers of the Guardian noted the name as being used interchangeably with “stargaze” and “shoetronica”, crediting their popularity as due to a stigma around the name “shoegaze”. By the 2010s, nu gaze was largely used synonymously with the phrase “second-wave shoegaze”.

2020s: Semantic shift#

By the 2020s, “nu gaze” had fallen out of common use. During 2023, the term saw a revived use on internet forum sites Reddit and 4chan, where a semantic shift took place from meaning second-wave shoegaze to instead refer to the fusion of nu metal and shoegaze practiced by grungegaze bands Bleed and later Narrow Head. This definition has been stated by Stereogum, Ultimate Guitar, and Epitaph Records. Pitchfork writer Samuel Hyland attested that, in 2025, “nu-gaze” was being used to mean both the fusion of nu metal and shoegaze, as well as any new shoegaze. Eli Enis, former editor of Revolver, noted this fusion as largely descending from the shoegaze-influenced sound of Deftones, listing examples of this style as Narrow Head, Wisp, Loathe, Fleshwater, Trauma Ray, Trxy and Leaving Time. Enis also noted the influence of Title Fight as a core part of the sound, which was echoed by Consumed magazine, who said nu-gaze grew out of soft grunge. In 2026, PopMatters writer Ethan Stewart observed that nu-gaze “crested” in 2025 with releases by Bleed, Fleshwater, Split Chain and Oversize. Hyland credited the musician Photographic Memory as the “mastermind” of a new wave of nu-gaze that combined it with element of Soundcloud rap, citing his work with Quannnic, Jane Remover, Wisp, Blair and Daine as examples. In 2025, a few prominent American news outlets referred to Wisp and her debut album If Not Winter as “nu-gaze”. An article by Splice specified that this definition is explicitly hyphenated as “nu-gaze”, while the traditional definition is unhyphenated as “nu gaze”.

History#

Around 2000, an international wave of bands taking influence from shoegaze began to take shape with England’s My Vitriol, Sweden’s the Radio Dept. and France’s M83. Following the release of their debut album Finelines (2001), My Vitriol experienced a sudden rise in notoriety, its single “Always: Your Way” entering the UK’s top 40 charts, leading them to perform at Top Of The Pops, Glastonbury Festival and Reading Festival. The following year the band went on hiatus, leading to the rise in popularity of the Radio Dept. and M83. Other notable acts in the movement included Autolux, Silversun Pickups, Amusement Parks on Fire and Film School.

Genre family: 21st-century music genres, British styles of music, Rock music genres