Glixen are building a shoegaze utopia, one festival stage at a time

Glixen always wanted to be more than a local DIY band playing shows around Phoenix, Arizona. With just two EPs to their name, one of the best new rock bands around have deservedly already played Coachella, and this weekend, they made their UK debut at Reading & Leeds.

Thing is, if you want to be in a band who take over the world, the moody world of shoegaze probably isn’t the obvious choice. “Growing up, I just fell in love with bands like My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive,” explains vocalist Aislinn Ritchie, whose soundtrack was previously full of Y2K pop stars Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. “Shoegaze made me feel all the emotions – sadness, anger, happiness, love, romance – and the music was a form of escaping the desert heat. It just felt exciting.”

“I wanted to bring it into my world, though,” she adds. And that ambition is already clear. Glixen’s first EPs were a collection of slow-burning songs that turned towards joy, while 2025’s follow-up, ‘Quiet Pleasures’, is snarling and more aggressive, but with glorious moments of peaceful tranquillity. It’s an evolved form of what’s been done before. “We wanted to do something that was pop but also heavy. It’s feisty and was written about a lot of change,” says Aislinn.

Change is a big part of what comes next as well. “We’re really trying to push what our sound can be and playing a lot more with dynamics,” says guitarist Esteban Santana, who’s been inspired by Massive Attack and Bowery Electric. “Expect a lot more of that sound from us in the future.”

“I also want to do trip-hop with heavy guitars,” adds Aislinn. “I just feel like there’s so much we can explore with the different styles of music we like. We can go from really heavy to something dreamy and washed out, or even pop-rock if we want. There’s a whole world of music in our heads, and I can’t wait to unlock it.”

“We wanted to do something that was pop but also heavy. It’s feisty”

It’s a bold move, considering shoegaze has exploded in popularity over the past 18 months. Gen Z has embraced the classic cult figureheads of the scene, making underrated acts like Whirr more popular than ever, while new artists like Wisp, Julie and Fleshwater are racking up hundreds of thousands of streams every month on Spotify.

“Seeing our contemporaries in the scene thriving is amazing. We just love to see everyone winning,” says Esteban. “I’ve felt like this music could be huge since I first heard it, and now it is, which is so special,” adds Aislinn. “It pushes us as well.”

Glixen have been putting the work in, having spent the past three years touring relentlessly. Their 30-minute set at Reading is a masterpiece in lush theatrics and brutal catharsis. It’s extreme but beautiful. The biggest lesson they’ve learnt on the road – apart from how much more fun it is when Aislinn can put down her guitar and lean into pop – is the community that’s growing around the band. “It’s so amazing, because I’ve been searching for that my whole life,” says Aislinn.

“When I started going to gigs, no one in this scene looked like me, and there were definitely no Latina rock stars for me to look up to. Now, I get so emotional when I look out at our shows and see people who look like us. We don’t make it about that, but it happens and it’s beautiful.”

As well as the music, the band use fashion and visuals to connect. “It’s another way of expressing yourself,” says Aislinn. “It’s a natural part of being a musician, but you don’t see it a lot in this genre,” she continues. “It feels like if you try too hard, you’re looked down upon – but I don’t care. I’m trying really hard.”

“I really want to create a world that feels like me, Esteban, Keire [Johnson, drummer] and Sonia [Garcia, bassist]. I want it to sound like Glixen,” but that’s an ongoing, ever-evolving process. The band aren’t afraid of that, though – they’re just excited about where it might take them. Despite the many wins, Aislinn says it “just feels like the start of something” before smirking. “I imagine a lot more than it is now.”

Glixen’s EP ‘Quiet Pleasures’ is out now.