Published by Alessandro Violante on December 8, 2025
A mixture of shoegaze, sludge, doom, noise, post-rock and post-metal is what to expect when listening to Spotlights music. This New York-based trio composed by Sarah Quintero and Mario Quintero and by Chris Enriquez, sometimes labeled as sludge gaze or doom gaze, since 2013, makes a so exciting well-crafted blend of so many different music styles, asking its listeners to live their personal intimate sonic experience.
Spotlights music is perfect for long train travels during autumn and winter seasons while watching the landscape from the window, and for smokey alternative music venues in city outskirts. Such heavy yet melancholic music asks the listeners to fully focus on it, to fully enjoy its vibe and to think about a multiplicity of existential topics.
Listening to Spotlights, the listener could find strong influences of mature Deftones, Sonic Youth and, of course, the sound of the iconic label Ipecac Recordings, the label of the genius Mike Patton and Greg Werckman, releasing their albums (including their last one) since 2017. Before releasing their strongly acclaimed first full album Tidals, released by Crowquill Records, in 2016, they released some self-released EPs and their first EP on the same label.
Their new vinyl release Rarities, released on 21th November, offers to the listeners the chance to discover their early (here remastered) work, which contributed in shaping the introspective and complex sound being the trademark of their releases. These songs have here been released on vinyl for the first time. This release includes their very first song, 050809, two songs originally included into the Demonstration EP, two songs originally included into the Spiders EP, three songs originally included into the only digital Séance EP released in 2023, and Kiss the Ring, a digital single released in 2018, featuring Allen Epley of Shiner.
Rarities is more than a simple collection of songs only enjoyable by long-term Spotlights fans already knowing their discography who want to discover more about how they’ve become what they sound like today, but it’s also a good introduction to new fans who didn’t have listened to their previously released stuff. Especially new potential fans, listening to this release, could easily catch the variety of their sound, and enjoy how such different songs could evoke different feelings and thoughts. On next January and February, Spotlights will play as special guests during the UK & European tour of A.A. Williams, and will also play in our country.
As well as Rarities shows the neverending process of sonic evolution followed by Spotlights, that same evolution can be perceived by listening to all their albums, meaning we could expect for further all-encompassing releases and sonic evolution. Spotlights are an electrifying example of how, after all these years, the New York City scene is still capable to tell something interesting and strongly convincing in the alternative music scenario.
Label: Ipecac Recordings
Rating: 9