Sky Cries Mary (band) – Queen City Sounds and Art

Head Full of Stars Elegantly Express a Sense of Loss and of Being Lost on Elegant Shoegaze Single “Burning Hearts”

Head Full of Stars, photo courtesy the artists

“Burning Hearts” starts out quietly and gently fitting its subject matter of loss and being haunted by the presence and memories of the people who are no longer with us but whose influence on us lingers. The song by Head Full of Stars is flowing with strong melodies that flow and soar and stir the emotions as the song takes off into the far reaches of the psyche while remaining grounded in an emotional immediacy. One might think of the song as psychedelic rock or shoegaze but of the variety more akin to Low and that band’s focus on songcraft as a vehicle for embodying emotion and exploring the essence of what we feel rather than getting a little trippy and rocking out. There is an economy to the songwriting here that honors what it truly feels like to lose people and also feel a little lost yourself in the wake of that loss as you try to make sense of a world without the physical existence of those closest to you. Listen to “Burning Hearts” on YouTube and follow Head Full of Stars which includes former Sky Cries Mary member William Bernhard at the links below.

Head Full of Stars on Instagram

Head Full of Stars on Bandcamp

Nobody Ever Does Takes Us on a Cosmic Journey to Inner Tranquility on Ambient Psychedelic Track “Rustig Aan”

Nobody Ever Does, photo courtesy the artists

Nobody Ever Does might look like a vagabond version of Jellyfish and one might expect a different flavor of psychedelia from “Rustig Aan.” But what emerges across it’s lush and gorgeous sprawl of sound nearly nine minutes long is a downtempo and meditative listening experience akin to a mellower Bardo Pond without the passages of raw noise. Measured, hypnotic percussion, streaming synths sparkle, ethereal female vocals stream melodic poetry as if cast adrift on the ocean of subconscious thought. In the background voices speak like distant radio signals echoing announcements barely discernible. Bell tones and languorous guitar work throughout give the whole thing which seems so casually and unhurriedly cosmic an organic grounding reminiscent of Sky Cries Mary’s more abstract sonic explorations of inner space for a net effect of utter tranquility. Listen to “Rustig Aan” on YouTube, follow Nobody Ever Does at the links below and listen to the rest of the album Settle Down album from which “Rustig Aan” is drawn out now on Spotify.