Waterfall – Imagined
From Dublin, Ireland
Released October 31, 2025
Genre: Dream Pop / Psychedelic / Shoegaze
Dublin dreamscapes and the hush of reverb
Emerging from Dublin’s spirited alternative scene, Waterfall reveal their full breadth with Imagined, an album soaked in haze, longing and sonic wonder. The record feels like a moment suspended—half dream, half memory—where guitars curve into twilight, vocals drift into the ether, and time stretches just long enough to feel infinite.
Waterfall craft music informed by the ambient swirl of shoegaze and the expansive brush of psychedelia, but they anchor it in immediacy and emotion. Their sound isn’t about replicating the past—it’s about reconceiving it through a lens of introspection and texture.
Sound & atmosphere
From the first sonorous chord, Imagined immerses you. Waves of reverb flood the stereo field, shimmering guitars tumble like water and synth washes carry you across landscapes of feeling. The production allows space—between notes, between breaths—so the music doesn’t just play, it resonates. Echoed vocals hover like reflections; rhythms pulse like distant surf. The result is both lush and intimate.
The psychedelic element comes through not in flamboyant solos, but in atmosphere: subtle shifts in tone, loops that bend, layers that breathe. It’s dream pop that moves inward rather than outward, shoegaze that kneels rather than towers.
Themes & emotional core
At its heart, Imagined dwells on possibility and the quiet ache of what might have been. The title suggests both creation and concession—what we invent in memory, and what we relinquish in reality. Songs speak of distance (geographic or emotional), of self-questioning, of the places inside us where light and shadow meet.
There’s no grand declaration here, no sweeping arcs. Instead, Waterfall choose nuance: the hush of an ending, the trace of a smile, the moment before dawn. The listener is invited into that space—not as a spectator, but as one who has lived it.
Why it stands out
In a revivalist climate where many bands lean hard into the spectacle of shoegaze or the slickness of dream pop, Imagined finds its strength in stillness. Waterfall aren’t chasing volume—they’re chasing nuance. They trust space, texture and time. That restraint gives the album an emotional depth that lingers.
For listeners ready to lean in, to sit with sound and sigh—and to hear the space between the notes—Imagined offers sanctuary. It’s less about immediate hooks, more about staying with a feeling.
Final thoughts
Imagined doesn't ask to be heard fast—it asks to be inhabited quietly. Its songs fold around you, calm you, and then challenge you to feel. Waterfall have created more than an album; they’ve created a refuge of reverb and reflection.
Ethereal, immersive, and quietly profound—“Imagined” is Waterfall’s invitation to dream in colour and wait in silence.
© Thusblog
