It took years, but it’s well worth the wait, the debut full-length, “You Said Forever”, via Sweden‘s Startracks label, from Stockholm based 4-piece Star Horse at last become a reality. 9 songs, melding dream pop, shoegaze and noise-rock, engulfed with immersive, spellbinding, hazy soundscapes, filled with gorgeous blurry-harmonies, shimmering and fuzzy guitar distortions and ethereal vocals, casted by sombre lyrics, of such charm and wonder, it’s impossible not to be seduced and enchanted.
The album was preceded by the videoclip for the single “Pickle Plum”.
Soaring layers of gauzy guitar chords, interspersed by deep, robust bass that drops and prowls throughout, backed by steady restrained drums, adding profound, weightless density to the distinctive melodic sensibilities in an overwhelming swell of euphoric yet wistful bliss, coerced by unaffected ecstatic vocals of lost innocence and everlasting naivete drifting over a wall of whiny, searing guitar lines and brisk repetitive strums oozing shoegaze angst at its finest.
A song about getting older, change, and separation. A carefree childhood filled with love and BFF’s turns into a disconnection pervaded with teen apprehensive, lifestyle choices, and different destinations coming full circle in this coming of age story.
The accompanied video perfectly parallels the song using time lapse photography, phase in and out transition, and beautiful outdoor settings to create a “time capsule” complete with High School Graduation gowns, blowing bubbles, dancing, and twirling back and forth through the years.
An evocative nostalgia of carefree days, recognition of troubled times, and the beauty experienced when it all come back together.
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