Neuclouds

In 2024 and 2025, Neil Hill and his Shopfires project emerged as a surprising bedroom-pop phenomenon, receiving both critical and commercial acclaim for several releases on the Subjangle label. This was perhaps unexpected for an act that had previously described themselves in a self-effacing manner on Bandcamp as 'DIY pop recorded directly into a cheap laptop'.

Over the past year, Hill has perfected the skill of keeping his listeners engaged while demonstrating his remarkable productivity by releasing a series of digital singles under the Neuclouds moniker. Subjangle has now gathered these works into this self-titled compilation.

Fans of the Shopfires' aesthetic will not be disappointed. His haunting, echoed vocals, combined with the isolated core of jangled and twanging riffs in tracks such as "We Hate Everyone Now", "In Colder Times", "Waking Up In A World That Hates Me", "Always The One Missing Out", and "Hey, Saboteur", showcase some of the finest pieces that never quite found a home on any of his previous Shopfires releases.

However, amidst this reassuring familiarity, there are groups of tracks that offer subtle deviations from what has gone before while still maintaining the vocal similarities. Initially, tracks like "We Don't Need Anymore", "It's Easy To Lose Your Way", "I'm Just Here To Complicate Things", and "We're Not Anything To Anyone" juxtapose dark, faux cinematic guitar pop reminiscent of the recent Goodbye Wudaokou with twinkling, incidental jangled riffs that flutter beautifully, presenting a sound that would be far too understated for the usual density of Shopfires.

Equally, Hill continues on his path of musical exploration, venturing into the polished, 'not quite sophisti-pop' realms of "I'm Thinking About Love" and "Secret Sign" before reaching a career outlier with the intricate piano arrangement of "When The Darkness Comes".

This compilation album is the sound of a wonderful artiste taking his first tentative steps into new musical pastures and succeeding with absolute aplomb.