Pinholes of Light in the Shadows
All Eyes navigate places both wonderful and strange in Daystar
The darkness has never been so enticing.
Think I’m coming out on the other side
Was gone for so long just waiting it out
Gonna to call it what it is
Reinvent the night
Minnesota dreamgaze duo All Eyes released their newest album Daystar last month. Identified as their “quarantine album,” the beauty of the ethereal textures and melodic vocal constructions of each track can only be described as nostalgic.
For the unwitting listener from the bygone days of Generation X, and those of more recent gen pining for the awesomeness of the late 80s and early 90s, there is a harkening back to Tales From the Darkside, Friday the 13th the series, and Twin Peaks — shows with soundtracks/soundscapes not only noticing the darkness but exploring and sometimes reveling in it.
Go ahead and resurrect what’s been dead and gone
Your spine is fake
And these walls have taken shape
Never thought it would come to this
Never thought I’d break
One track steeped in the influences of the dream-pop past, while diverging simultaneously from them, is “Falling Into Place.”
Unlike Thievery Corporation or Mazzy Star who utilized synth in the 90s for an almost subterranean effect in their music, All Eyes craft their track into something crisp and clear. Alicia Christenson’s transcendent vocals sweep over the remains of a relationship lost, while Joe Christenson’s programmed production establishes a surreal, haunted stillness. The ghost of the past walks as a full-bodied apparition to be watched and evaluated.
I’m thinking it over
Thinking it over
Falling into place
Thinking it over
Thinking it over
Falling into place
And in fact, Daystar acts as a corral for the collective ghosts of lost relationships, loneliness, isolation, and fear that gnaw at all of us in a pandemic world.
It is dreamy and beautiful — filled with shadow, but providing respites of light in the fringes. It is a superb Fall/October album, the musical equivalent of long, chilled, reflective walks through a darkened wood.
You can support All Eyes by purchasing Daystar on their bandcamp page or streaming it on your favorite service.
