Since their inception in 2009, Canadian band No Joy has thrilled fans of atmospheric guitar noise with a sound rooted in the shoegaze genre, but constantly venturing into new sonic adventures with elements of experimental electronic music, metal and triphop.
No Joy's latest album, Bugland (2025), is an excellent example of the project's ongoing search for new soundscapes. Here, No Joy's mastermind Jasamine White-Gluz collaborates with Chicago producer Fire-Toolz to create an almost hallucinatory work, teeming with interesting details, futuristic soundscapes and dreamy melodies. And where echoes of shoegaze bands like My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive merge with trippy inspirations from names like Boards of Canada.
Bugland has received excellent reviews, including being named Best New Music by Pitchfork, while The Quietus used words such as "inventive, infinite beauty" to capture its essence. Bugland is yet another impressive achievement from an extremely prolific and wide-ranging artist who has previously collaborated with names such as Sonic Boom.
Live, Jasamine White-Gluz and her band manage to unfold No Joy's universe in all its diverse and cosmic splendour, with room for both psychedelic moods and cascades of noise that send the audience into a blissful trance. This summer, she is ready to open a portal directly from Roskilde Festival to Bugland.
