Given the joyous jangling cascade that tumbles out of that guitar, the post-punk beat and bass, the slight air of melancholy, and that sweet-spot meeting of pop-poise and rock aloofness, it isn’t hard to guess that Micah Lopez, the artist behind the Hollow Star moniker, is a fan of certain strands of the 80s British indie scene.
But everyone is influenced by someone, something, somewhere; fingerprints are found on everything, and that is all they are…fingerprints. ‘Elegy’ sounds like what it is: the torch of the past being carried into a new age, a song for the here-and-now in which the old music set…people like me…will, perhaps, hear echoes of some of their favourite moments. But that was then; and this, and by this I mean ‘Elergy,’ is now.
Guitars chop and chime over a deft, melodic bassline; unfussy drums get the job done; and the vocals keep that air of wistful world-weariness, erring on the melancholic rather than leaning into the mournful.
Oldies like me might throw around reference points like The Church or The Smiths (he’ll appreciate that one), but honestly, all of that is so long in the past that ‘Elergy’ feels, given the cyclical nature of music, more ahead of the curve than it ever does backwards-glancing.
Could this be the start of a new strain of indie-pop? A new standard set, a new benchmark to aim for? Wouldn’t that be something?
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