Wisp If Not Winter
Wisp's If Not Winter arrives as a vivid statement of intent, folding shoegaze swirl and bruised pop into a debut that many critics call both immediate and emotionally frank. Across professional reviews, the album earns a 73.6/100 consensus score from five reviews, and its strongest moments - notably “Breathe onto me”,
The best song work as emotional focal points because they balance airy dream pop and metallic noise with diaristic honesty.
Wisp's If Not Winter arrives as a vivid statement of intent, folding shoegaze swirl and bruised pop into a debut that many critics call both immediate and emotionally frank.
Best for listeners looking for coming-of-age and shoegaze revival, starting with Breathe onto me and Mesmerized.
Full consensus notes
Wisp's If Not Winter arrives as a vivid statement of intent, folding shoegaze swirl and bruised pop into a debut that many critics call both immediate and emotionally frank. Across professional reviews, the album earns a 73.6/100 consensus score from five reviews, and its strongest moments - notably “Breathe onto me”, “Sword” and “Mesmerized” - repeatedly emerge as the record's clearest highlights.
Critics consistently praise Lu's soft, intimate vocals set against heavy, reverb-laden riffs and textural atmosphere. Reviews from Clash, NME and Kerrang! commend the pairing of murmured confession and arena-sized hooks, citing “Sword” and “Breathe onto me” as songs that crystallize the album's tug between vulnerability and sonic heft. The Line of Best Fit and Pitchfork both point to “Mesmerized” as a cathartic peak, even as Pitchfork flags moments of derivativeness - comparisons to Slowdive and My Bloody Valentine appear across reviews - and questions whether the record always transcends its influences.
The critical consensus suggests If Not Winter succeeds when songwriting pierces its rich atmosphere: the standout tracks deliver memorable choruses and emotional clarity, while some deeper cuts blur into texture. Reviewers note themes of innocence versus lust, isolation and coming-of-age storytelling, framing the album as a promising, sometimes uneven debut that signals growth and ambition. Read on for full reviews and track-by-track notes that unpack whether If Not Winter lives up to its most exhilarating moments.
Critics' Top Tracks
The standout songs that made critics take notice
Breathe onto me
5 mentions
"The atmospheric flourish of “Breathe Onto Me”, balances sensual intimacy amid crashing chords"— The Line of Best Fit
Mesmerized
4 mentions
"On 'Mesmerized', and the singles 'Breathe onto Me' and 'Save Me Now', she’s mastered the approach introduced on 'Pandora'."— New Musical Express (NME)
Sword
5 mentions
"By the time the metaphors and keening whispers of “Sword” come around we’re invested"— The Line of Best Fit
The atmospheric flourish of “Breathe Onto Me”, balances sensual intimacy amid crashing chords
Track Ratings
How critics rated each track, relative to this album (0-100). Only tracks that made critics feel something are rated.
Sword
Breathe onto me
Save me now
After dark
Guide light
Latvia
If not winter
Mesmerized
Serpentine
Get back to me
Black swan
All i need
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What Critics Are Saying
Deep insights from 7 critics who reviewed this album
Critic's Take
Wisp's debut If Not Winter announces a confident new voice, its best songs folding airy dream pop and metal-adjacent noise into something singular. The review repeatedly elevates “Sword” and “Breathe Onto Me” as an opening pair that sums her dichotomy, while “After dark” and “Mesmerized” are flagged as immediate highlights. Murray's voice is admiring and precise, casting the album as both diaristic and atmospherically ambitious, which is why these songs carry the album's emotional weight.
Key Points
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The best song work as emotional focal points because they balance airy dream pop and metallic noise with diaristic honesty.
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The album’s core strengths are atmosphere, cohesive sequencing, and a brave emotional center that channels shoegaze legacy.
Themes
Critic's Take
Wisp's If Not Winter stakes its claim as perfect pop shoegaze while showcasing standout songs like “Sword” and “Mesmerized”. There is particular admiration for the title track's lush emo balladry and strongest songwriting to date, which lifts the record above mere wall-of-sound exercises. Ultimately the album is called triumphant and a sign of a young artist still growing into herself, even as some songs blend together in texture.
Key Points
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The best song is 'Sword' because its clearer mix and emphatic chorus set the album's emotional stakes.
Themes
Ke
Critic's Take
There is a childlike, almost ghostly intimacy at the heart of If Not Winter, and Wisp makes that intimacy most arresting on “Sword” and “Breathe onto me”. Emma Wilkes writes with affectionate precision, noting how the album is dripping with Slowdive and Nothing influence while still feeling personal and not regurgitation. The best tracks - “Sword” especially - pair murmured confessions with shoegaze textures that feel studied rather than derivative. Guiding light's mechanical whirr and the swirling seesaw of “Breathe onto me” mark them as standout moments on If Not Winter.
Key Points
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The best song is "Sword" because its murmured, intimate lyrics crystallize the album's emotive shoegaze identity.
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The album's strengths are its studied shoegaze textures, intimate vocal delivery, and clear homage to Slowdive and My Bloody Valentine while retaining personal voice.
Themes
Critic's Take
Wisp’s If Not Winter luxuriates in shoegaze textures while staking out memorable peaks - notably “Mesmerized” and “Black Swan”. The reviewer's voice admires the album’s blend of arena-sized hooks and intimate lyricism, praising “Mesmerized” for its cathartic release and calling the opener “Black Swan” bold and audacious. There is measured critique too, as the title track is said to risk naivety and “Guide Light” meanders, but overall the record convinces as a quest of revelation and feeling.
Key Points
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“Mesmerized” is the best song for merging arena-sized hooks with shoegaze weight and delivering a cathartic release.
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The album’s core strength is its textured shoegaze atmosphere that balances epic noise with intimate lyrical reckonings.
Themes
Critic's Take
In this review Kieran Press-Reynolds locates the best tracks on If Not Winter in moments of real lift - notably “Breathe onto me” and the gale-force surge early on - where the album feels electrifying. He praises the fluttering hook on “Breathe onto me” and the airy intimacy of “All i need”, even as he finds much of the record pleasing on the surface but too derivative. The reviewer frames “Guide light” and “Mesmerized” as hypnotic yet borrowed, and ultimately calls out the record’s tendency to simulate thrilling rock without truly upending the formula. This keeps the best songs readable: the ones that briefly deliver real shock and melody amid the record’s soft, floating textures.
Key Points
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The best song is "Breathe onto me" because it delivers a rare, electrifying gale-force moment that feels genuinely thrilling.
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The album's core strengths are its pleasingly distorted textures and occasional standout hooks, contrasted with an overall derivative, surface-level execution.