The Irish shoegazers make a cinematic comeback...
21 · 10 · 2025
In Just Mustard’s music video for ‘POLLYANNA’, Katie Ball gazes into several security cameras, confronting the audience with an upward stare. She appears like a specter in ordinary locations—a casino, a dive bar, a playground, a barber shop, and deserted streets and staircases—and everything is not what it appears to be. Ball spins wildly one moment and moves in slow motion the next. Abruptly, an obscure, faded figure, glowing white, hovers over her shoulder. The ‘found footage’-style (directed and edited by Ball) occupies a transitional space, both captivating and unsettling simultaneously.
The visuals set a fitting mood for the Irish band’s third album, ‘WE WERE JUST HERE.’ With its cinematic breadth, the album is rich with textured guitars and cascading rhythms that venture into uncharted territory. While familiar with the sadness of shoegaze, Just Mustard opts for joy on ‘WE WERE JUST HERE’, even at its most perplexing. Ball’s enchanting vocals remain prominent, exuding a powerful softness that, even when barely above a whisper, threatens to erupt into a haunting wail.
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An enthralling soundscape envelops us on ‘ENDLESS DEATHLESS’, as Ball’s vocals drift in and out of awareness. ‘SILVER’ bursts with energy from drummer Shane Maguire, enhanced by synthesized beats and vocals that blend to simulate a high-speed chase, only to fade into an echo. The title track offers a haze of synthesizers, where the distortion from David Noonan and Mete Kalyoncuoğlu’s guitars melds with the steady rhythm of Maguire’s drums and Robert Hodgers Clarke’s bass. Ball asserts, “Everything happens all the time… I just wanna make it feel good.”
‘SOMEWHERE’ is slow and expansive, fitting comfortably into the dream-pop genre, if not for a hint of subversion concealed within each chord. “Pick me, throw me in your hair,” Ball proposes on ‘DANDELION’, “Cut me at my stem.” Distorted sounds enhance her entreaties, soft yet spacious, capturing Ball’s acceptance of a newfound freedom. ‘THAT I MIGHT NOT SEE’ brims with disorienting drums and Ball’s muted cries. Tender one moment, chaotic the next, the track intertwines the range that Just Mustard’s exploration of new sonic realms has offered them. ‘OUT OF HEAVEN’ serves as a stunning conclusion, where Ball’s vocals are accompanied by an echoing voice questioning, “Is this falling out of heaven?” Mimicking a descent from the skies, the song resonates into silence.
An urgency permeates each track that comprises ‘WE WERE JUST HERE’, as if striving to seize a fleeting emotion before it disappears. As one narrative transitions smoothly into another, Just Mustard demonstrates that while a certain darkness will always linger at the core of their sound, they are chasing something greater.
7/10
Words: Paulina Subia
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In the music video for 'POLLYANNA' by Just Mustard, Katie Ball gazes intently into several security cameras, confronting the viewer with an upward look. She
