Starcleaner Reunion – Plein Air
New York City-based Starcleaner Reunion share “Plein Air,” the second single and closer for their recently announced EP, Café Life, due next Friday, September 20th.
“Plein Air” is an aquatic, dreamlike downtempo track, utilizing acoustic guitar, Rhodes piano, ambient guitar leads, thunderstorm samples and buried vocal whispers to create a floating, spaced out atmosphere. Jo Roman’s haunted prose invokes imagery of finding peace in the freedom of seabirds and the ocean.
Last month the band announced Café Life with the release of “The Hand That I Put Down,” a catchy blast of noise-pop that is indebted to acts like Stereolab and Swirlies as it is to contemporaries like feeble little horse, while still sounding wholly unique. It meshes the intensity and immediacy of lo-fi rock with the careful production of the band’s electronic influences.
The band jokingly refers to their sound as “Euro-pop” a term coined by a promoter at one of their first shows. Café Life is indebted to a certain slowness, a ‘not-hurrying’ – title is a reference to a certain European way of life – refusing to rush anything and taking one’s time. Filtered drums, spots of Rhodes, and bubbling synth lines across the EP hint towards the inspiration of downtempo and trip hop that add to this laid-back vibe, but the band retains a rock oriented sound, with equal influence from international acts like, Ivy, Club 8, and Minimum Chips.
Starcleaner Reunion is a new band of old friends. Singer Jo Roman, guitarists Pat Drummond & Neil Torman, and bassist Adam Kenter have been making music together in various configurations since they were high school students together in New Jersey, but never all together in the same group. In 2022 the members found themselves in New York and after meeting drummer Sam Unger the musical project began and the band released their debut EP Club Estrella, a collection of their earliest ideas.
Tour Dates:
Sep 20th: Binghamton NY @ The Bundy Museum
Oct 24th: New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom w/ Hello Mary
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