Back in 1983 a tenacious, young high school student named Hope Sandoval went to a Rain Parade show. Afterwards she went up to guitarist David Roback and handed him her demo tape. He produced that (still unreleased) album and when the singer of his then-project Opal departed, Sandoval stepped in, and the rest is history. At this point, it’s crazy to think that Hope Sandoval’s voice has been simultaneously haunting and gracing our dreams for nearly three decades. Alongside Roback the two have won over audiences around the world as Mazzy Star with their signature dreamy sound laced in minimal layers with Sandoval’s angelic voice permeating every corner.
Never feeling or feeding the pressure to release music on anyone else’s timeline but their own, fans have had to exercise patience through Mazzy Star’s dormant periods, the most recent of which has been since the release of 2013’s Seasons of Your Day. Now the Star has reemerged in our sonic hemisphere with the upcoming release of “Still” a 4-song EP out June 1st. Melancholy piano chords resonate under Sandoval’s smoky, delicate vocals before Roback’s trademark guitar twangs slip in to add texture, but preserve the song’s fragile constitution. The space between the layers is brilliantly used as a darkgrey canvas for the instruments to lay upon, and it’s lovely.
“Quiet, the Winter Harbor” appears on the “Still” EP, out June 1st, via Rhymes of An Hour.
-Taylor Wallace// host, Thursdays 8-11P & Saturdays 2-6P; Producer, Eklektikos with John Aielli
