London-based shoegaze outfit sadplanet continue their rapid ascent with “please,” a sweeping, emotionally volatile new single that deepens the promise of their forthcoming debut EP slowing down (arriving September 10). As the second preview of the project, it finds the five-piece refining their blend of dream-pop haze, indie rock urgency, and classic shoegaze immersion into something both intimate and overwhelmingly expansive.
Formed in late 2023, sadplanet have quickly positioned themselves as one of the capital’s most compelling new alternative acts. Comprising Kyra Ho (vocals), Nick Rainey and Aiden Knowles (guitars), Jeff Baker (drums), and Dan Lawrence (bass), the band build their sound from layers of reverb-heavy guitars, melodic low-end movement, and a rhythmic core that can shift from delicate restraint to full emotional rupture in a matter of moments. “please” captures that duality with striking clarity.
The track opens in a subdued, almost fragile register, with Ho’s vocal floating above shimmering guitar textures that feel weightless and unguarded. But beneath that surface calm, there’s a growing tension, an unease that gradually pushes the song toward its inevitable release. By the time it crests into its dense, distortion-laden climax, “please” has transformed into something cathartic and consuming, a wall of sound that feels less like escalation and more like emotional overflow.
Drawing on the lineage of My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, DIIV, and Just Mustard, sadplanet are clearly fluent in shoegaze’s historical language, but what sets “please” apart is its emotional specificity. Rather than leaning into abstraction, the band ground the haze in a very human story of disillusionment. As they explain, the song reflects “the kind of friendship that feels perfect, until it isn’t,” tracing the slow realisation that early warning signs were ignored in favour of connection, intensity, and the brief high of being understood.
That narrative gives the track its weight. The soaring refrain, “so far it’s up, so far to fall”, becomes both a mantra and a warning, encapsulating the emotional arc from euphoria to collapse. It’s in this tension between beauty and breakdown that sadplanet’s identity feels most fully realised.
Co-engineered by Stanley Gravett (Idles, The Horrors, High Vis), alongside Sergio Maschetzko (Black Country, New Road), and finished by mixer/master Bob Cooper, slowing down already sounds like a record shaped by both ambition and precision. “please” continues the groundwork laid by earlier single “do you?”, but pushes further into emotional intensity, suggesting a band increasingly confident in balancing sonic scale with vulnerability.
With “please,” sadplanet don’t just expand their sound, they sharpen it. The result is a track that lingers long after it ends, echoing with the quiet aftermath of something beautiful that couldn’t quite hold.
