Lucid Express return with dreamy shoegaze sophomore LP ‘Instant Comfort’

Hong Kong shoegaze favourites Lucid Express are back, and they’re leaning fully into the feeling. The band will release their sophomore LP ‘Instant Comfort’ on February 20th via Kanine Records, and they’re kicking things off with a beautifully hazy new single, Faux Sweetness.

The track drifts in on a droning theremin before slowly blooming into a lush, layered swirl of bass, synths, and guitars. It’s classic Lucid Express: dreamy but dense, delicate yet quietly heavy, the kind of song that feels like walking alone through a city at night with your headphones turned up just a little too loud.

Vocalist Kim Ho describes Faux Sweetness as a return to the band’s roots — with a twist. Drawing from their earliest indie pop influences while folding in darker textures they’ve picked up through years of studio experimentation, the song lands in that sweet spot between softness and weight. It’s their most refined balancing act yet.

‘Instant Comfort’ follows the band’s self-titled 2021 debut and the 2022 reissue of their ‘Floret’ EP, and it finds Lucid Express expanding their sound without losing the intimacy that made them stand out in the first place. The album was mixed by Kurt Feldman (The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Depreciation Guild) during marathon, trans-Pacific overnight sessions conducted over Discord — a detail that somehow perfectly matches the record’s after-hours mood. Airy melodies float through walls of jangling guitars and swirling feedback, capturing the strange calm and unease of nighttime stillness.

Alongside the new music, Lucid Express are gearing up for a return to North America this spring. After appearances at festivals like Slide Away and LEVITATION, the band will hit NYC’s New Colossus Festival, SXSW in Austin, and Toronto’s Wavelength Festival, with more dates on the way.

Upcoming shows

• 3/5 – New York, NY – New Colossus Festival
• 3/7 – New York, NY – New Colossus Festival
• 3/14–3/16 – Austin, TX – SXSW
• 3/20 – Toronto, ON – Wavelength Festival

With ‘Instant Comfort,’ Lucid Express continue to prove they’re one of the most quietly compelling shoegaze bands working right now — turning late-night introspection into something warm, immersive, and hard to shake.

‘Instant Comfort’ track list

1. Promise Me
2. Take Heart
3. Something Blue
4. Setback
5. Stars in the Car
6. Aster
7. Faux Sweetness
8. Dark Glass

Find Lucid Express on Bandcamp, Spotify, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and beyond — and get ready to sink into the glow.