On Aug. 17, at 6:30 p.m., Singaporean alt-rock and dream-pop band Blush kicked off their American tour with an intimate show at the Moroccan Lounge in Los Angeles. The band is currently touring the United States, playing shows across various cities along both the east and west coasts throughout August.
The evening began with opener Precocious Neophyte, an indie shoegaze group based in Boulder, Colorado, led by South Korean musician Ham Jeehye. Shoegaze is a style of rock characterized by its utilization of ethereal sound with obscured vocals and distortion.
A seasoned figure within South Korea’s indie music scene, Ham had played in multiple bands before she formed Precocious Neophyte with guitarist Ethan Waddell, whom she first met eight years ago in South Korea. After both moving to Chicago, Ham and Waddell began collaborating more intentionally, experimenting with home recordings that would eventually shape the band’s sound.
“I started making music around 2021-2022 … around the pandemic period, and so I made Precocious Neophyte’s first album, and he [Waddell] mixed the album at home,” Ham said.
The band has been building momentum this year with the release of two singles: “Show Me Your Mind” and “Flow,” the latter having been released just this past summer. Both pieces embody a melancholic yet comforting tone, pairing soft, whispered vocals that linger on bittersweet emotions with heavy, immersive instrumentals.
“Flow is about how we all had our dreams when we were young… but we are always flowing, you know, in this life,” Ham explained. “Sometimes there are ups and downs, but I wanted to say that it’s a natural thing.”
Precocious Neophyte brought these sentimental themes to life on stage, translating them into a blend of distorted guitars and delicate lyrics. The result was a sound that simultaneously carried intensity and tenderness, suspending the audience between excitement and stillness.
“Someone texted me today and asked, ‘How would you describe Precocious Neophyte?’” drummer Davis Rowan said. “And then they said, ‘Shoegaze-Psych…question mark.’” Waddell laughed and then offered his own description, “It’s like a sea of distortion.”
Enveloped in layers of reverb and delay, the band saturated the room with their hazy, dreamy sound – a fitting prelude to the romantic melodies Blush would later deliver. As Precocious Neophyte wrapped up their performance and exited the stage, the audience was left in a thick atmosphere of anticipation, eager to sink deeper into the dreamlike sound.
Blush arrived on the stage shortly after Precocious Neophyte, and with just the first few notes, immediately had the audience entranced, drawing them further in. Blush is an alternative pop-rock band based in Singapore, formed by members of other beloved Singaporean indie groups, including Soffi Peters from sofklo, Darell Laser from Forests, Daniel Pei from Cosmic Child and Jared Lim from Sobs.
The band’s set wove together songs from their newly released album, “Beauty Fades, Pain Lasts Forever” (which dropped at the beginning of this month), with cherished tracks from their previous 2021 album, “Supercrush,” such as “All I Wanna Do” and “February Again.” Blush’s performance wove past with present, supplying fans with the best of both worlds: the thrill of hearing their new work live for the first time and the nostalgia from listening to older, familiar fan favorites.
“I first heard Blush when they opened for Mass of the Fermenting Dregs last year, and they were so great live,” fan Natalie Jiang said. “I love their music, and I’m super excited for their newest album.”
At the center of the dreamy, heartbreaking performance was the magnetic interplay between lead singer Soffi Peters’ and guitarist Darell Laser’s voices. Peters sang with a smooth, dulcet voice that cut through the wall of noise with a gentle clarity and warmth; it was soft yet commanding. Laser countered with metal-inspired screams and raw vocals, adding a cathartic edge. Instead of clashing, Peters’ and Laser’s vocals complemented one another; their two contrasting styles created a strange sensation of harmonious tension, with melodies strengthened by chaos.
“The most interesting thing for me is the soundscape that Blush is able to create – it’s just so lush,” concert attendee Micah Kiang said.
Blush closed their set with the final song on their new album, “Swallowing 999999 Needles,” but the room remained buzzing with exhilaration even after the piece concluded. Fans, still riding the high, cheered and chanted for more until Blush ultimately gave in to their demands. The band surprised the crowd by performing a playful cover of Green Day’s “American Idiot,” charming the audience and leaving them delighted as the night came to an end.