It’s a strange feeling when a friendship slips through your fingers. What was once open, easy, and full of trust is now a locked door with no key in sight. You shared your thoughts, your worries, your bad jokes – and now you wonder if you overshared—if you missed the signs that things were shifting. They’ve got “new rules” now, boundaries you never saw coming, and it stings. You’re left asking yourself if you ever really knew them at all…or if it was all just an illusion.
Blankenberge is a Russian dream pop and shoegaze band formed in Saint Petersburg in 2015. Now signed with Dutch label Automatic Music Entertainment, Blankenberge unveils their latest single, New Rules. The track explores the cold reality of a friendship unraveling, with disillusionment running deep beneath the dreamy, almost ethereal vocals—a fitting metaphor for masking real emotions behind a brave façade.
The band combines the ethereal vocals of Yana Guselnikova with Daniil Levshin’s swirling guitars and synths, Dmitriy Marakov’s resonant bass lines, and Sergey Vorontsov’s driving drums. Drawing comparisons to shoegaze and dream pop icons like Slowdive and Cocteau Twins, their music evokes oceanic soundscapes, inspired in part by the Belgian coastal town from which they take their name.
New Rules exquisitely captures that uncomfortable moment of loss and betrayal, as the delicate yet direct sound mirrors the emotional distance that now defines the relationship. The song offers a sharp reflection on the fragility of trust and the lingering pain of drifting apart.
Listen to New Rules below:
Blankenberge has garnered a dedicated global following with their emotionally charged, reverb-heavy sound. Their albums Radiogaze (2017), More (2019), and Everything (2021) have earned them acclaim in the international shoegaze and post-rock scenes, solidifying their place as one of Russia’s standout alternative acts.
Automatic Music is a record label and concert promoter based in the Netherlands run by Antonio Zelada (Resplandor). It is currently the record label for Blankenberge, Life On Venus, Resplandor, Brian Wenckebach, and many more. Automatic Music has presented concerts by many varied artists, including The Jesus & Mary Chain, The Mission UK, The House Of Love, The Radio Dept., Men Without Hats, and The Ocean Blue. Since 2019 they have presented the Automatic Noise Festival in Amsterdam, featuring the most exciting shoegaze and related genres bands from around the world.
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