Kraus (shoegaze musician) – Wikipedia

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Musical artist

Will Kraus (born 1994/1995)[a] is an American shoegaze music producer.

Background[edit]

Kraus grew up in Dallas. As a kid, he listened to Good Charlotte, and the Linkin Park fandom encouraged him to produce music, initially in hip-hop and electronic beats. Around 2010, he was introduced to Sigur Rós, “broadening his aesthetic scope”, and he later discovered Odd Future, Danny Brown, and A$AP Rocky.[1]

Around 2012, Kraus decided he wanted to pursue music as a career. He got an acceptance letter from the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at New York University.[1]

Kraus started working on his first album, End Tomorrow, in early 2016. After finishing it, he emailed several labels and music writers. Brian Justie from Terrible Records accepted to release the album.[1]End Tomorrow was released on September 9. On September 28, a music video for the song “Pitch Fucker” was premiered by Stereogum.[2]

Kraus released “Reach” as a single of his second album Path on February 7, 2018.[3][4] The album’s second single, “Bum”, was released eleven days later.[5]Path released on March 9. Ian Cohen of Pitchfork gave a 7.3/10 review.[6]Chicago Reader‘s Leor Galil also talked positively about the album.[7] He released a music video for “Bum” on June 6.[8] On the 28th, he released the single “More”.[9]

On July 8, 2021, Kraus released “Glass Valley” as a single of his upcoming third album, View No Country.[10] He also released the singles “VNC”,[11] “Given”[12] and “Redshift”.[13] The full album was released on October 22nd.[14] On March 5, 2022, Kraus released Eye Escapes, a collection of recordings from 2016 to 2021, mostly from a lost album between Path and View No Country.[15]

On February 27, 2023, Kraus released the EP Anything Else.[16]

Musical style and legacy[edit]

Kraus has been described as a noise rock, noise pop, dream pop and shoegaze musician and has been compared to My Bloody Valentine.[1][2][6][8] Chris DeValle of Stereogum said that End Tomorrow is “a bombastic technicolor headfuck built from insane drums, celestial dreampop surges, and heavily processed vocals.”[2]Far Out Magazine‘s Carly Wu elected Path as the 18th best shoegaze album of all time, declaring that it is “unfailingly one of the most brilliant contemporary shoegaze albums ever” and that it ascends “to pure perfection”.[17]

Discography[edit]

Studio albums
  • End Tomorrow (2016)
  • Path (2018)
  • View No Country (2021)
Compilation albums
Extended plays
Singles
  • “Reach” (2018)
  • “Bum” (2018)
  • “More” (2018)
  • “Glass Valley” (2021)
  • “VNC” (2021)
  • “Given” (2021)
  • “Redshift” (2021)
  1. ^ He was 22 years old in 2017.[1]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e Moreland, Quinn (January 13, 2017). “Kraus Makes Noise Rock for Anxious People”. Pitchfork. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c DeVille, Chris (September 28, 2016). “Kraus – “Pitch Fucker” Video”. Stereogum. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
  3. ^ Geffen, Sasha (February 7, 2018). “Listen to “Reach” by Kraus”. Pitchfork. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
  4. ^ Israelsohn, Sophie (February 7, 2018). “Kraus – “Reach”“. Stereogum. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
  5. ^ DeVille, Chris (February 28, 2018). “Kraus – “Bum”“. Stereogum. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
  6. ^ a b Cohen, Ian (March 12, 2018). “Kraus: Path”. Pitchfork. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
  7. ^ Galil, Leor (July 20, 2018). “Young shoegaze maven Will Kraus expresses himself even more clearly on his second album, Path”. Chicago Reader. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
  8. ^ a b Pessaro, Fred (June 6, 2018). “See Shoegaze Outfit Kraus’ Searing, Psychedelic New “Bum” Video”. Revolver. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
  9. ^ “More” on Spotify.
  10. ^ Wilson, Greg (July 8, 2021). “Kraus – “Glass Valley”“. DKFM Shoegaze Radio. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
  11. ^ “VNC” on Spotify.
  12. ^ “Given” on Spotify.
  13. ^ “Redshift” on Spotify.
  14. ^ View No Country on Bandcamp.
  15. ^ Eye Escapes on Bandcamp.
  16. ^ Anything Else on Bandcamp.
  17. ^ Wu, Carly. “From My Bloody Valentine to Slowdive: The 50 best shoegaze albums of all time”. Retrieved July 15, 2021.

External links[edit]