I had the opportunity to see The Stargazer Lilies live a few years ago and thought it was a little bit odd that they were billed with glitch outfit Tobacco. The two bands didn’t seem very related and it seems like a strange choice to have a dreampop outfit along with some heavily dance inspired “broken computer” hip hop/electronica. However, reflecting on that now, with their newest release “Living Work of Art”; I somehow understand the connection these two bands have. The Stargazer Lilies seem to be going for a different hybrid sound and have taken certain components from their former tour mates.
This single sounds like Optimus Prime eating a shoegaze song. Or perhaps, it’s more like this analogy: your neighbors down the street are playing My Bloody Valentine but there’s a construction crew a few houses in front of them and you can’t quite fully make the music out.
I really enjoyed this track. It feels like it’s got a bit of nuance, using a different new way of layering the distortion and noise in shoegaze that isn’t traditionally what we think of in the genre. The vocal mix is especially interesting. It’s more pronounced than buried. The layers of fuzz and reverb that are usually more pronounced at the top of the mix are muffled and buried under another layer of digital noise.
I think there may be mixed reviews on this one as it’s definitely a different type of song that mixes up some of the standards and preconceived notion’s that we may have regarding shoegaze and dreampop and how “It’s supposed to sound”. However, for those continuing to want new, fresh sounds and our genre delivered to us in a different way; I highly recommend you check this out. It’s different but different can be so good.