“Created in your design, forsaken to ease your pride.”
Since dropping the sublime Chameleon towards the tail-end of 2024, Trauma Ray have been a busy unit. With tour dates both sides of the pond, lining up alongside the likes of Loathe stateside, then supporting Touché Amoré over in the UK, they’ve had a packed schedule. Hence, the expectation of any new music from the quintet was lowered, especially considering that Trauma Ray have never felt like a ‘release cycle’ band. Yet 2026 does seem to be the year of pleasant surprises, with the likes of concealer., Poison The Well and Nothing all releasing unexpected material. Now Trauma Ray their latest addition to that in the form of Carnival.
It’s a challenging place to be, knowing how to follow on from Chameleon, let alone the expansive and magical closer that was “U.S.D.DO.S.“. And while the contemplative strums of opener “carousel” might suggest something akin to that, the trio set of guitars in Trauma Ray rumble awake in “Hannibal” like a combustion engine on an icy morning. Layered over the top of this are Uriel Avila‘s grandiose vocals, bellowing out “Tell me, why did you ever care when I, did my best to catch your eye?“. Avila delivers line after line that will have others singing along to after repeat listens. The track is a showcase of how Trauma Ray have refined their sound, taking cues from vocal hooks that would have been found on the likes of “Spectre” (“Are you afraid of me?“) combined with the rougher edge of their sound (akin to “Elegy” or “Bardo“).
Trauma Ray moves into familiar territory on “Méliès“, leaning into the grungier side of their sound. As the distorted guitars enfold the track, with Avila gracefully gliding between their chords. The paced grooves give a tension to the track of the unexpected and unknown. Trauma Ray‘s heaviness is a special one that only they seem to be able to deliver in the ‘gaze genre space at the moment. Show “Méliès” to the uninitiated, and they could potentially mistake it for a sludge or doom metal track, given the weight of the guitar riffs at times. Closing out on an interlude-esque minute, it leads into “Funhouse” where Trauma Ray have pieced together what might just be their strongest song to date.
Continuing the build that was left at the end of “Méliès, “Funhouse” moves through the slow pirouettes that Trauma Ray perfected on Chameleon. Gorgeous reverbed guitar chords strum through the track with a crystal-like fashion. Avila sings “I know the way out, won’t you take my hand?” as the track quietly moves into something even more expansive and dream-like. It’s a deep contrast to the air of tension that came before. Each subtle build of the track has that spine-tingling sense, one that the genre has only delivered on the likes of Slowdive‘s “Golden Hair“. As Avila laments on the line “Take my hand, this is not your wonderland“, it’s difficult not to get completely lost in the track – which, at its core, is what much of the shoegaze genre is about.
Perhaps the most experimental side of Trauma Ray is saved until last, with the fitting name “Clown“. Synth-styled lead guitar rhythms with jarring sensibility bounce throughout sections of the track, as the waves of Trauma Ray‘s familiar sound crash upon itself. The lighter elements that were found in “Funhouse” continue, primarily driven through the rhythm guitar and the vocals, exuding that glistening joy of an oncoming sunrise after the dark of night. Shoegaze is becoming more saturated, thus the subtle experimentation that Trauma Ray have played with across Carnival sets them apart. Any act looking to maintain prominence will need to push the boundaries, which Trauma Ray have done here in an impressive fashion.
9/10
Carnival will release on February 20th via Dais Records, and can be pre-ordered here.