It’d be easy to categorize Fort Wayne trio Necromoon as “shoegaze.” They check all the boxes: atmospheric, dreamy, saturated guitar tones, ethereal vocals, and at times Gothic undertones. But you’d be doing a disservice to the band by filing them under that overused and misunderstood moniker. 

On the band’s followup to 2021’s Spirit Fair, guitarist Connor Corwin, bassist Tessa Brumbeloe, and drummer James Wadsworth swirl a sonic spell that covers everything from dream pop to post-punk to shoegaze and back again. The sound is engaging, alluring, and will delight fans of The Cure, Whirr, Nothing, and Mazzy Star. 

While you can connect some sonic dots, Necromoon are making their own sonic path on Nature Makes Our Graves for Us. 

The songs here take their time to unfold. Necromoon aren’t afraid to sprawl the sonic good-ness over six minutes, like on album opener “Jazz Dive.” Wadsworth’s drums act as a hypnotic loop, while Corwin colors the song in dark-hued sonic touches. Brumbeloe’s vocals are ethereal and subtle, bringing to mind Bjork and Hope Sandoval. Necromoon sound as much like Cocteau Twins as they do My Bloody Valentine here. 

“Orange Peel” buzzes and jangles like Disintegration-era Cure, laying on the mood thick and heavy. “Birthing Pod” has an almost slow-core groove while the band goes from echoing dreams to jagged nightmares as the song explodes in distorted guitars and a cacophony of noise. 

Over the course of these 12 tracks, Necromoon vary from dreamy and hazy to dark and heavy while always keeping a consistent core feel. From the jangly and buzzing “It Was So Good To See You” to the Nothing-esque heaviness of “Gloomspore” to the gorgeous nine-minute sprawl of “Glowing,” Necromoon are on point. 

Necromoon seem to know exactly who they are and know sonically where they want to take us as the listener as well as themselves as a band. 

Nature Makes Our Graves for Us is a massive jump from the band’s 2019 debut and one that will get far more ears hip to this amazing band.