If you paid attention to what’s happening on the music scene nowadays, you probably stumbled upon many excellent shoegaze artists and bands delivering some of the finest works ever created. The scene thrives like never before, yet there’s always a certain feeling like many of those music outlets try to mimic something the greats have crafted decades ago, overly experimenting with their influences, and in the end, they deliver repetitive and predictable recordings. Thankfully, there are artists like Tom Leonard who break all the rules and shapeshift the boundaries of the genre by writing songs that go beyond anything you’ve heard before. With “What Has Been and What Will Be,“ his latest full-length material published in November 28th last year, he pushes shoegaze music to completely different territories, exploring this longstanding music genre like no one before. Of course, shoegaze acts as a primary music genre, because all the fundamental elements are included in the fabric of this album, but you’ll also stumble upon many other complementary styles along the way. You’ll notice how only the finest properties borrowed from dream pop, indie rock, alternative rock, post-rock, and post-punk found their way into this sonic equation. These additional elements serve as more than necessary enhancements, accentuations, decorations, and other details that unquestionably elevate this material to an entirely new level while the artist remains loyal to the primary sonic direction. Also, it’s good to mention that while this material vividly explores late eighties and nineties shoegaze sound, Tom Leonard also incorporated qualities that meet all the trends in contemporary music production, making this material suitable for anyone who appreciates cleverly assembled, flawlessly performed, and perfectly produced music. It’s one of those albums that keep you hooked from the very beginning and stay with you long after the last notes and beats fade.
As soon as you press play, you’ll notice that Tom Leonard poured heart and soul into this material. Each composition arrives with a perfect structure, adorned with many profoundly detailed segments, brilliant ideas, and outstanding musicianship. Lyrically, “What Has Been and What Will Be” explores various sentiments, moods, situations, and circumstances. It’s a highly relatable material that will immediately resonate with the broader audience. This epic sonic journey commences with “Clarity,” a fine piece of sonic artistry that immediately showcases what you might expect from the remainder of the material. With beautiful interplay between acoustic and electric guitar, Tom Leonard pulls you into a completely different realm. Each theme and chord progression creates a lush backdrop for his marvelous vocal performance, while the rock-solid rhythm section keeps everything in line. Coming up next is “Hidden You Hidden Me,” another standout piece that further expands Leonard’s sound. By introcuding calm, soothing, relaxing, ethereal synth pads, heavy basslines, danceable rhythmic patterns, and arpeggiated chord progressions, he creates an otherworldly atmosphere that levitates between dreamy post-punk, indie rock, and alternative yet still stays close to the shoegaze sound. With songs like “In Circles,” “Out Tonight,” and “The Light Show,” Tom Leonard showcases his tremendous ability to transform shoegaze instrumentations into soothing, hypnotic, addictive, and irresistible dream pop songs where cinematic ambiance dominates the most. It’s nearly mindblowing how all those synth pads, acoustic chord progressions, warm-sounding basslines, and moderate rhythmic patterns work together. Each sonic maneuver acts like a door into another dimension, revealing even more soundscapes and expanding Tom Leonard’s already luxuriant sound. Of course, each composition has its unique properties, while the serene calmness, reverby instrumentations, and soulful vocal performance remain as qualities that bind them together.
“Stay Gone” exemplifies how shoegaze music should sound in 2026. It carries everything you dearly love about this genre, yet Tom Leonard also infuses his signature moves that make his music so fresh and unique. His voice remains as the centerpiece of the song, guiding listeners from start to finish while the interplay between heavily distorted, reverb-soaked guitars and vividly hearable synth melodies, harmonies, and pads creates another perfect backdrop for all the vocals to shine upon. Unlike many shoegaze songs presented nowadays, heavily drenched into uncontrollable distortion, Tom Leonard somehow manages to controls all the feedback and noise, making this song heavy yet so polished. “The Fathoms Deep Pool Of Love” demonstrates how even synthwave and synth pop have their place in a shoegaze world. With such mesmerizing synth leads, themes, and sequences, he pulls the listener deep into another dreamy composition. This track perfectly blends all those synth elements with the finest properties of dream pop, while beats, breaks, fills, accentuations, and other rhythmic patterns will remind you of some of the finest electronic music tracks released during the nineties. “In The Wind” is another beautiful composition where Tom Leonard blends only the finest elements of shoegaze, dream pop, and indie. Each section arrives with a perfect blend of synth themes and interplay between acoustic and electric chord progression that immediately wraps around your listening apparatus and refuses to let go. In the meantimes, the vividly hearable low-ends offer more heaviness, clarity, and depth while acting as a binding element between the mentioned instrumentations and drumming performance. Those guitars become even more complex, luxuriant, and fascinating during “What Has Been And What Will Be,” such a beautiful indie-inspired shoegaze track where guitars perfectly complement Tom Leonard’s incredible vocal performance. He flawlessly combined all those calm, expansive guitar progressions with raw, aggressive, and heavily distorted riffs. It’s one of those songs that showcases all the songwriting, composing, arranging, and producing abilities of an artist. This epic sonic journey comes to an end with “Fade Away,” another beautiful cinematic experience where Tom Leonard sums up all his creativity, skills, talent, experience, and knowledge. It’s such a perfect closing track that will force you to spin this fascinating album all over again.
Tom Leonard has created an album that not only carries a comprehensive collection of enchanting songs but delivered one of the finest pieces in shoegaze history. His music pays homage to an era when this music genre ruled the airwaves, but also demonstrates how shoegaze, dream pop, and indie should sound in 2026. As soon as you press play, “What Has Been and What Will Be“ transports you into a completely different universe, built upon beautiful vocal harmonies, luxuriant synth and guitar works, intricate basslines, and moderate beats. It’s a sonic voyage you surely do not want to miss if you’re a true fan of shoegaze music. Therefore, head to your favorite streaming platform and check it out!
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