Nu gaze (sometimes called newgaze) is a form of alternative rock that originated in the 2000s that is directly influenced by the primarily British shoegaze scene of the late 1980s and early 1990s.[1] A renewed interest in shoegaze occurred in the early 2000s when bands such as Maps, My Vitriol, Silversun Pickups, and The Radio Dept.The origin of the moniker "nu gaze" has been credited to an interview in 2001 with My Vitriol frontman Som Wardner[2] in which he denied his band was shoegaze, instead stating humorously, "I guess you could call us nu gaze".According to an article in The Oxford Student, music from the genre features "droning riffs, subdued vocals and walls of distorted, messy guitar or synth".[4] The shoegaze revival draws inspiration heavily from shoegaze but incorporates more modern synthesizers and drum tracks.
An instrumental sample of
Silversun Pickups
's song "
Panic Switch
", from their 2009 album
Swoon
. The song features distorted guitars, walls of sound, and modern synthesizers.