I keep coming back to records like Sunset Funeral for one reason: I don’t just want a shoegaze album to float, I want it to shove back. That’s what makes Glare interesting here. In 2025, with plenty of shoegaze-influenced alt-rock records aiming for blur and beauty, Glare stand out by giving that blur some muscle. This album works best when the dreamy parts get pinned against sharper percussion, thicker guitar crunch, and a strain of early 2000s alt-metal riffing that keeps the whole thing from going soft. For me, that tension is the point. Sunset Funeral is not trying to redraw the map for shoegaze, dream pop, or melodic hardcore. It just knows exactly where to press.
The opening run makes the thesis clear
The front half is where the album states its case. “Mourning Haze” opens with the kind of shimmer you expect from this corner of shoegaze, but what sticks is the motion underneath it. The drums don’t just mark time; they push the song forward, which turns the haze into momentum instead of wallpaper. “Kiss The Sun” keeps that same lift, and its brighter guitar wash reads less like a reset than a continuation of the opener’s forward pull. Then “Saudade” starts turning inward. That placement matters. The record doesn’t abruptly switch personalities; it narrows its focus track by track. By the time “2 Soon 2 Tell” arrives, Glare have already shown that they understand sequencing better than a lot of bands working in adjacent dream pop lanes. This is a record built to be played straight through, and the first four tracks make that obvious.
Pacing, not novelty, is what holds it together
A lot of albums in this lane can get trapped by their own consistency. The tones are good, the vocals sit nicely in the mix, and then twenty minutes later you realize the songs have started to smear together. Glare get close to that problem at times, but mostly avoid it because the arrangements keep shifting the pressure. Around the halfway point of “2 Soon 2 Tell,” the tension comes less from volume than from restraint; the band holds the release just long enough to make the next push count. That kind of decision is all over this album. The pacing has the feel of one long run, but not in a static way. Tracks hand off to each other naturally, and the percussion keeps giving the songs shape. That’s where the melodic hardcore angle matters. Even when the guitars blur at the edges, the rhythmic spine stays firm, and that keeps the album from drifting into formlessness.
The heavier middle stretch gives the record its identity
If the hazier songs make Sunset Funeral appealing, the heavier ones give it a profile. “Chlorinehouse” is a key turning point because it brings unease into the album without breaking its flow. You can hear Glare leaning harder on friction there, as if the brightness from the opening stretch has started to curdle. “Felt,” at just 82 seconds, acts like a bracing inhale before the hit lands. Then “Nü Burn” delivers exactly what the album has been setting up: crunchy, grittier force that points back to the band’s hardcore roots while still staying inside the record’s larger mood. It’s also the moment where the early 2000s alt-metal comparison makes the most sense. Not because Glare suddenly become a different band, but because the riff weight gets more physical. The smart part is that “Nü Burn” doesn’t feel bolted on. It feels like the release valve the album needed.
The heavy passages make the softer ones hit harder
That’s the central trick of the whole record, and Glare are disciplined enough not to overplay it.
The closing stretch settles without losing pressure
The second half doesn’t chase the middle section’s force forever, which is another good call. “Sungrave” and “Different Hue” ease the album back toward a late-night blur, but they don’t come across like a retreat. They feel earned. After the suspicion in “Chlorinehouse,” the snap of “Felt,” and the lash-out of “Nü Burn,” these final songs land with more weight because the record has already tested its own calm. That’s also why the common criticism that some tracks blur together only lands halfway for me. Yes, Glare are working within familiar genre boundaries, and no, this isn’t some radical rewrite of shoegaze. But the sequencing does enough to give the songs distinct jobs. “Sungrave” closes distance; “Different Hue” lets the album exhale. By the end, what stays with me is not novelty but conviction. Glare know when to lean into haze, and more importantly, when to interrupt it.
The verdict: Sunset Funeral succeeds through execution, pacing, and a sharp feel for contrast. It may be fairly straightforward within shoegaze-influenced alt-rock, but the mix of dream pop glow, hardcore drive, and alt-metal crunch gives it real staying power. I’d put it at a strong 8/10. Give it a listen.
Tracklist
- Mourning Haze 3:27
- Kiss The Sun 3:08
- Saudade 3:30
- 2 Soon 2 Tell 3:12
- Chlorinehouse 4:35
- Felt 1:22
- Nü Burn 4:01
- Turquoise Dream 3:20
- Guts 3:39
- Sungrave 4:14
- Different Hue 3:23
