A great dance party is a thing of beauty, but a good soundtrack for the comedown can be just as vital. After nearly a decade on the trippy dancefloor of Soundpool, guitarist/drummer/bassist/producer John Cep and singer/bassist Kim Field set off from that New York five-piece to take respite in the warm and woozy sounds of a new shoegaze-infused project, The Stargazer Lilies. And with their debut album, We Are the Dreamers,they’re letting their days of disco beats slip away into memory with style.
Linking up with Tobacco of Black Moth Super Rainbow and live drummers EJ DeCoske and Johnny Lancia, they’ve teased influences like the French pop of Air and the shoegaze of Lush and Slowdive out to create a record of dripping dream pop. Here, they’ve pared down their sound to Kim’s airy vocals, reverb-washed drums and a fuzzy, swelling ether of effects-laden guitar and bass. The resulting punch-drunk collection, from the gentle melody of “Del Rey Mar” to the sluggish and nearly indecipherable drone of “Light of Day,” is coated in the disquieting patina that Tobacco brings to BMSR, though in this case the mood he creates is more melancholy than sinister.
And isn’t that just how it feels, that limbo between a real good party and the morning after — sickly sweet, a little muzzy and ready, before too long, to do it all again.