ARIMA - Ez dago amor (2025)

Is the band led by Paule Bilbao my favourite outfit that makes music in Basque language? Yes, obviously, it's the only one I know. But the fact about ARIMA is that it's one of the European hidden gems the music of which is definitely worth discovering. Regardless of the language it is sung in.

The signature sound of the Basque is the combination of indie rock (with more focus on the "rock part" with noisy and hazy vibes. Bilbao's clear and strong vocal carries the compositions but at the same time (at least in my ears and mind) stops me from putting their music on the shelf labeled "shoegaze". Which is fair play, as the vocals a) are fantastic and b) leave a lot of space for the instruments to create this slow(ish) and heavy atmosphere. As I know since their appearance at the AM Festival, this sounds particularly impressive live.

The noisier and more ambient passages don't slow down the melodies here. It's the melody that makes  Isurkari one of my favourite tracks of the end of 2025, but truth be told, this short EP is stacked with hits like guitar-rich Zarata for example, with the spoken-word-based intro and outro tracks adding to the album's atmosphere. I wonder if the band plans to release their first LP anytime soon, I, for one, would appreciate it very much.

Ez dago amor costs 8 EUR.

Check: Isurkari

Country: Basque Country/Spain

Genre: ethereal indie rock

Label: Bonberenea / Aloud Music Ltd.

Arima - Beldurrez beste egitean (2023)

ARIMA - Metamorphosis (2019)

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Arima - Beldurrez beste egitean (2023)

The Basque Arima are back with their third ever EP. The artists play their take on noisier indie rock with psychedelic influences and, as it's their signature quality so far, Beldurrez beste egitean is really good.

The artists admit that the album marks the end of some phase of their career as a band. The music here feels like "leaving the darkness of the sea, to feel the sun's rays on the skin" with the shift in their perspective that is characterized by the compositions with less of the noisy bang around them and with more focus on the songs themselves. As a result, we can experience four slower, more ballad-like tracks with a lot of weight put on Paule Bilbao's very rock-like vocals. They draw a lot from the noisy genres, building a good, solid base on the noisy guitars with beautiful oneiric moments, but it seems to me that there's more indie rock here that can gradually evolve into very post-rock-like instrumental blizzard (as in Kea eta larruak) kind of orientation. 

I like how short and economical in a sense the lyrics are. They are poignant and straightforward, leaving at the same time a lot for the listener to add from themselves with the best example being Oroigarri bat where Bilbao basically sings how bad she feels without this special someone. 

Beldurrez beste egitean costs 7 EUR.

ARIMA - Metamorphosis (2019)

Check: Kea eta larruak

Country: Basque Country/Spain

Genre: noise rock

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ARIMA - Metamorphosis (2019) EN

It has to be clearly said: I've never had on this blog any artist singing in Basque. And also making some attractive and at the same time dense shoegaze? This is the Basque ARIMA with their newest EP called Metamorphosis.

The language they sing in was a huge bait for me but at the end of the day what counts is their shoegaze quality. The Bilbao-based trio know exactly how to make melodic but also atmospheric music that's not shy to draw from the genre's rich past. The perfect walls of the guitar noise inspire and seduce and also beautifully crash the audience in the tracks' finishing parts. Another thing is the vocal - rarely airy and peaceful, more like lively, psychedelically melodic and sometimes even folkingly crying out loud.

It's only an EP, it seems it's also their debut. But the quality here is so striking that the band automatically get to my "watch closely" list.

Metamorphosis costs 6 EUR.

Check: Kale grisak

Country: Basque Country/Spain

Genre: dream folk-pop

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Tom Boyle - Mar de Fondo (2019) EN

Tom Boyle is a quartet from the town of Getxo in the Basque Country, they broadened their humble discography with a new EP called Mar de Fondo. And although it is very short, there's no doubt it should not be overlooked.

It's the first from the announced trilogy of EPs telling the story of the human life, about this cocktail of emotions from pain to happiness. The album is short but undoubtedly drawn the listener's attention. It's the essence of sad, Spanish dream pop of comparable quality to this from Blacanova.

The double vocal of a delicate feminine vocal and a deep male one always does a good job and it's not different here. Especially in the face of the nostalgic atmosphere served by the Basques. It makes a huge impression especially in the fragment where the warm vocals are accompanied by a crying guitar in Titanic and in the highly airy Supernova II. The incoming EPs from Tom Boyle must be paid special attention to.

Mar de Fondo costs 3 EUR.

Check: Supernova II

Country: Spain

Genre: melancholic dream pop

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