The impressive thing about this new one from Octavian Winters is that the band has managed to step out of their more usual, heavier, post-punk place and into lusher, shaded but ultimately pop-infused climes, and yet still retain all the hallmarks that define them. A reminder, perhaps, that sonic personalities rather than assigned genres are what lie at the heart of every band’s sound.
Of course, using a tag such as pop isn’t quite the right fit. I don’t want to give anyone the wrong impression, because “By The Stars” is still full of rich and resonant guitars, full-on but precise drums, bass lines that deliver both momentum and melody, and of course, Ria Aursjoen’s dreamlike vocals, here pushing even further into the otherworldly realm that they are never too far from.
Born from thoughts and feelings of the isolation of San Francisco in 2022’s fractured times, they gently nudge these (sur)real experiences into a more heightened, almost fairy tale setting, building a soundtrack for “stories once told but half-remembered, under a dusk of shadows and stars, in an abandoned city beneath the winter moon. “ A masterclass in poignancy meets poeticism.
This slight deviation from Octavian Winter’s more expected sonic path reminds us that it is listeners’ expectations, rather than the artist’s vision, that box a band in, that they can head off in all manner of eclectic and exciting new directions and still make music that encapsulates everything that made you love them in the first place.
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