“Solvent sound.”
In the three years since Lockstep dropped their debut, Arrival, the shoegaze genre has seen variations occur, and plenty of new bands appear. The likes of trauma ray are experimenting with shoegaze, proving new ways to expand the genre’s sound. All the while, Gloam, Graywave, and OVERSIZE are creating captivating shoegaze showcases and earning festival spots to go with it. In essence, the bar has been raised, and in 2026 there needs to be more to a shoegaze sound than the norm; otherwise, a record will blur into the haze of the genre. As Lockstep move into their sophomore record on I Know What I Saw, there are perhaps too many moments where they sit a little too close to doing that here.
That dense and thick Lockstep sound is present, with typical reverb and vocal timbre. Tracks like “Ash in the Water” and “Half Measures” have that Lockstep weight to them, not a sludgy way, more of a warm and encompassing manner. Its presence is there but not overbearing; it makes for a comforting listen. The pace of I Know What I Saw adds to this too, remaining fairly consistent across the record; it’s got that strumming tempo throughout. While there are a few moments where there’s added crunch to the sound, such as on later cut “Return“, the eight tracks presented are slow-burners, to be sat on and taken in.
The aforementioned warmth, that comes with a lightness and pastoral nature, is a shift away from the doomgaze-leaning Arrival, which sat in a similar ‘gaze vein to the well-known Holy Fawn. The opener “Survival Instinct” moves in with its gentle, almost plucked chords. The shift in tone for Lockstep is immediate; it’s that sense of a warm summer’s afternoon that made records by Turnover so popular, acting as a soundtrack for those moments of the season. “Dog in the House of Plenty” leans into this more so; there is a lift to the guitar strums, as their whirls have a daydream or hypnotic nature, to simply lose the mind within them.
There is a flip side to this approach by Lockstep, though; it lacks that real depth or hook to make I Know What I Saw a memorable album. The sonic soundscapes they’ve written do possess that, yet more often than not the record has a sense of passing by. It’s all very much Lockstep as a whole, but lacks variations or hooks, either subtle or wider. This isn’t to say that Lockstep should indulge in catchy mannerisms for the sake of memorability, but there does need to be more from Lockstep to give sections of I Know What I Saw further distinction, as at times it can blur into one.
It leaves I Know What I Saw with a similar feeling to a fleeting afternoon; pleasant and full of respite, yet eventually will fade in the passage of time. There will be a place for Lockstep‘s new iteration of their sound in the shoegaze audience. Those who are willing to spend more time and focus on the record than the nominal listen, and those looking for shoegaze that leans more into an impactful nature. Whichever side listeners of Lockstep fall on, there’s still no questioning the musicianship and craftsmanship that Lockstep have for this genre, which in time might turn into something grander.
