After five years of touring and releasing exclusively EPs, Canadian shoegaze band No Joy has returned with their genre-bending fourth album Motherhood. No Joy spent time between albums touring with bands outside the scope of their sonic comfort zone, such as experimental glitch pop group Baths and the post-hardcore band Quicksand. The result, on this album, is a willingness to expand the group’s own sound with nu metal songs such as “Dream Rats” and “Four” while not ignoring their original DIY shoegaze sound, which features prominently on the album. Combining these elements with a healthy dose of danceable beats, such as on album opener “Birthmark,” make the album consistently interesting and skillfully blends where the band’s been and where they are now.

By Emma Chekroun