The Key Studio Sessions: Pale Shade

The current generation of shoegaze — or more specifically, the space where shoegaze and doom overlap — has taken root particularly strongly in the Philly music scene. Local power trio Pale Shade comes from that world, bearing walls of amplifiers and dispensing explosive riffs, thunderous drums, heady atmospheres and euphoric melodies. With an aesthetic that recalls veterans like Hum and current standard-bearers Nothing, Pale Shade released its second album, Darker Days, in March of 2023 via Flesh & Bone Records.

Made up of singer-guitarist Josh O’Hara, singer-bassist Evan Lynch, and drummer Eric O’Neill, Pale Shade plays a blistering set for us this week in WXPN’s performance space for a Key Studio Session. The set opens on the soaring grandeur of the band’s latest, the yet-to-be-released “Waiting,” before delving into its back-catalog with the 2021 single “Lucky 13 (Ten of Swords)” and two songs from Darker Days, the gnarly poppy “Heaven’s Feel” and the scorching “Earthworm.”

Watch the studio session in full in the player above, check out photos from the recording in the gallery below, and for more, see Pale Shade live at one of their Philly-area shows this spring: they play PhilaMOCA on Wednesday, April 23rd, and will be at Ortlieb’s on Monday, May 19th. Tickets and information at WXPN’s Concert Calendar.