ALBUM REVIEW: Her Shadow Crown, Obscura

Inspired by the sounds of britpop and psychedelia, Melbourne-based band Her Shadow Crown have delivered an endlessly listenable debut album to dream and reminisce to.

The band's songwriter Lida Wang says the album is built around ‘nostalgic melodies, psychedelic textures, vintage pop influences and retro-futuristic atmospheres.’

‘Obscura feels like wandering through mirrors, old photographs, childhood dreams, and imagined conversations with past selves,' she says.

The flute sounds running through Strawberry Memories and Looking Glass are an obvious ode to The Beatles' Strawberry Fields, drifting smoothly into the gentle Britpop groove of Petty Tricks.

Chuhelo II plays with alternating speeds and instrumentation to produce a psychedelic feel, which carries over into May, a sweet tale of nostalgia.

The Second Planet plunges us into another time and place, a dreamworld of sorts, before Alter Ego sweeps us up in a vigorous synth solo. 

The pace pulls back with a pair of dreamy tunes in Playground Broken Heart and Animus, before breaking into toe-tapper All That I Want.

Mirage invites us to sit back and reflect on what we've heard, before She Dance To Whatever You Play wraps us up in a soothing conclusion to a wonderful daydream.

‘Somewhere between fairytale and memory, Obscura asks what remains when we finally turn back to look at ourselves,’ Wang says.

‘The album traces moments of longing, illusion, vulnerability and self-reflection.’

In sum:

ALBUM: Obscura

ARTIST: Her Shadow Crown

RELEASE DATE: May 31, 2026

GENRE: Psychedelic Britpop

RECOMMENDED FOR: Fans of 70s psychedelia and pop-rock

Listen to Obscura and follow Her Shadow Crown on Instagram.