Cherry Red Records collects two decades of shoegaze on “We Are The Beautiful”, a 4CD box set of 67 tracks subtitled “Two Decades of Shoegaze 1991-2011”. The set is physical only and is available to pre-order through Projekt’s Bandcamp at $38, with Projekt’s stock shipping by mid-August 2026.

The compilation traces the genre from the UK underground of the early 1990s through its later international spread. It runs across four discs, ordered loosely by era.

The first disc leans on the genre’s UK origins, with Ride, Lush, Curve, Catherine Wheel, Pale Saints and Kitchens of Distinction. The second adds Slowdive, Chapterhouse – whose song “We Are The Beautiful” gives the box its title – Cranes, Ultra Vivid Scene and Brian Jonestown Massacre. The third reaches into the 4AD-adjacent and US scenes with Cocteau Twins, Bowery Electric, Asobi Seksu and Skywave, and the fourth moves toward the late-2000s revival with A Place To Bury Strangers, School of Seven Bells, Ringo Deathstarr, Tamaryn and Pinkshinyultrablast.

Inside the ‘We Are The Beautiful’ shoegaze box

Two Projekt acts appear in the running order: Lowsunday, with “She Follows Rain”, and Mira, with “Cayman”. Side-Line has followed Lowsunday’s recent run, including the “Low Sunday Ghost Machine – White EP”. The box gathers single and album tracks from across the 1991-2011 window rather than rarities, drawing many of the period’s labels into one set.

There is no digital edition. Orders run through Projekt’s Bandcamp store, and Cherry Red Records handles the wider physical release.

About ‘We Are The Beautiful’

“We Are The Beautiful” is a various-artists compilation issued by Cherry Red Records, the UK label known for genre and scene retrospectives. Its 67 tracks span 1991 to 2011, the two decades in which shoegaze moved from a small group of British bands – Ride, Slowdive, Chapterhouse, Lush, Pale Saints – to a wider international style taken up across Europe, the US and beyond.

The set sits close to the darkwave and dream-pop lineage Side-Line covers, through acts such as Cocteau Twins and Cranes and through Projekt’s own roster. Projekt, the Philadelphia label founded by Sam Rosenthal, contributes Lowsunday and Mira to the box and handles the North American pre-order. The compilation pulls those threads together for a single chronological overview of the genre.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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