Himshe • Ideals [LP]

FFO: Julie Christmas, Nick Cave, David Lynch, Chelsea Wolfe

Himshe is like everything you’ve heard before like you’ve never heard it before. Hailing from Gent and fronted by charismatic duo Mishi Erine and Naomi Sijmons, Himshe fuse dream-pop and alt rock in a sorrowful and suspenseful grip. Through its sapient mix of these elements, the band’s second EP “Ideals” captures the listener and walks them through an emotional journey. Self-described as “making full-candy coloured soundz in a gray colourless world” Himshe does sound like the soundtrack to a noir movie. The characters in full colour and the background in black-and-white, “Ideals” flows through the speakers as the tragedy unfolds before our eyes. Erine and Naomi’s mellow and warm voices narrate tales of love lost, grief, and resentment. As if being snapped out of a tender dream only to face the harsh cold reality, Himshe violently shakes us but also gently cradles us to a comforting to a comatose slumber of what-if’s and chances not taken. At times reminding us of a scene from a Del Toro movie, we listen watchfully waiting for some creature to jump out and snatch us into a parallel reality, one that is dark and scary, yet like we have often been taught, familiar and disarmingly real. “Ideals” is precisely that, real. Unabashedly and unforgivingly real, and comforting and soothing its honest and visceral rendition of reality through rose-coloured cracked lenses. An album that quietly screams “let me sing of our undoing but hold you in a warm embrace while doing so”.

Himshe recently played dunk!festival 2023 and we sat down for a chat with Mishi Erine after their show to know more about what inspired this record.

dunk!festival (Fed): Hi Mishi Erine, first of all, I was very captivated by the energy and power of your live set, it’s quite a contrast with the more restrained voice of the record:

M.E. “Yes, we really prepared for this live show and wanted to give it our all! We think there’s a side of the album that really only shines through when played and heard live, although we’re super happy with how the record turned out of course”.

dunk!festival (Fed): Thank you, how would you describe the difference between the two experiences?

M.E. “I think Ideals is meant to be played live as much as in different settings. We are predominantly a live band and we want to play this record live, so of course hearing it on vinyl is going to be different. But we worked really hard to capture these more visceral aspects into the record as well! I feel like we did a good job and the record delivers all of these emotions with the same intensity or almost. It is a very different dimension though and a different way to experience the record. I think the two are complementary more than anything else, they complete each other, the darker side and the lighter side”.

01. Sabrina
02. Ideals​
03. Stay
04. Linger
05. Cold

Listen

Pressing info

180g black vinyl (pressed at dunk!pressing), limited to 300 copies worldwide. 

Released independently.