Cherished Turns Dreams Into Rock

Dream pop is typically used as a figurative tag to describe how a certain subgenre of ethereal alt-rock makes you feel. Often described as moody and atmospheric, it’s a vibe above all else.

Cherished is a good example of that, but the Denver band takes it a little more literally. For example, drummer Nathan Rodriguez describes how a bridge idea was subconsciously manifested onto the track “Slow Tear,” off the band’s self-titled debut that released independently on Christmas Eve.

“I woke up from a nap, and that beat was in a dream I had,” he says. “We had practice that night and wrote that song. … Every time I listen to that song, I think about that and appreciate that we were able to capture that and record it.”

Recorded more than two years ago, the album essentially encapsulates the birth of Cherished, a reincarnation of long-running former shoegaze project Lowfaith, following previously shared singles “Weekend Girlfriend” and “Petals,” both of which appeared on the 2023 EP, other bodies.

“Life gets in the way, everyone’s been busy, but getting it to this point where we can get it pressed worked out,” Rodriguez says of the time between finishing and releasing the full-length. “It was nice to have in our back pocket, at least.”

“I think I spent a year and a half at every Cherished show being like, ‘This is from a new album. It’ll be out sometime.’ Sometime happened,” adds vocalist Cloe Madonna. “I liked the pacing of it because I like Cherished being a slow-rolling thing that’s always there; you just never know when the next thing’s going to come up.”

The eight tracks are indicative of the new direction toward indie-rock bedroom pop rather than the shoegaze Lowfaith was known for, but the album still includes odes to the early days, such as “Violacé,” a Lowfaith-turned-Cherished tune.

“We had been writing parts of the songs before Cherished became Cherished, so we had this stuff that we had revisited over two years by that point,” Madonna, also of local hardcore group Destiny Bond, shares. “Cherished comes from the name of one of the first Lowfaith songs.”

Cherised is hosting a release show on Thursday, January 22, at the hi-dive. Local openers Flesh Tape, Tassles and head slug are also on the bill. Rodriguez and Cyrena Rosati of Denver noise punks Cherry Spit will be deejaying between sets, too. The gig is extra special since it’ll be the final set with original Cherished bassist Gwyneth Rose, who is moving.  

So catch ’em while you can, because right now, there aren’t concrete plans on what Cherished will look like moving forward, though there are two songs leftover from the debut recording sessions that will eventually become standalone singles.

“We can’t really know what the future holds for this band, but we’re going to continue to be friends and try to write some good music,” says Rodriguez, who is also in local groups Deth Rali, Replica City, Summer Stars, Pout House and 2000 TEARS. “Hopefully, people will still be here for it when that time comes.”  

For both bandmates, Cherished, which also includes guitarists Derek Brannon and Danny Steiner, allows them to spin a hypnotic web of sounds.

“I’ve listened to our record, guitar parts and beats, and you get like a feeling of spiders crawling over each other,” Rodriguez says. “The melodies are so intricate and weaving between one another, and Cloe’s voice carries the song from Point A to Point B. It’s amazing how it comes together.”

Madonna, who penned the lyrics, echoes that sentiment, adding that personal experiences — learning to let go of control and leaving an abusive relationship — informed her writing.

“I always held it as my diary, very vulnerable, no aggression to hide behind, which is always an easy thing to hide behind as a punk musician,” she says. “These songs, especially this record, is where Cherished found our sound and I feel like it’s the most matured-perspective thing I’ve ever written.

“Cherished has always been a vessel of lessons for me because it’s literally just emotional vulnerability in music form for me,” Madonna concludes. “It’s grounding. Playing in this band is really important to me emotionally because of that. It doesn’t let me hide the darkest things because I instead decide to sing about the darkest things in my life to people at a dive bar.”

Cherished, with Flesh Tape, Tassles and head slug, 7 p.m. Thursday, January 22, hi-dive, 7 South Broadway. Tickets are $15.