Photo by Aimee Herring Ryan, Edited by Crystal Joy Tuliszewski
A lot has been made of a recent revival in shoegaze, with bands haphazardly throwing together effects pedals to get some weak reverb and calling it a day on their band. Every once in a while you come across a band that evokes the exploratory nature that made it a poignant genre to begin with, like The Stargazer Lilies. The band is made up of husband and wife team John Cep and Kim Field, who have been in the scene for some time, and are ready to take their craft to new heights with the band’s sophomore LP Door To The Sun on Graveface Records, out June 3. Today they’re premiering their new video for “When With You,” a video putting their sound and noise into color. The song does a fine job of not relying on comfort-zones of sounding pretty or pleasant, but instead going into territories that take advantage of how guitar tones and noises can be further manipulated into increasing weirdness and undeniable ingenuity.
Videos by VICE
Of the track’s composition, John Cep says “When With You, is set to the unusual time signature of 5/4, has a modulating psychedelic blues riff verse, a celtic sounding bridge and chorus composed entirely of 6/9 chords, rarely used in pop music.” Of the lyrics, Kim Field says “Lyrically, it’s a simple love song which we tend to avoid but opted for against all the other complicated elements. Love is complicated and shouldn’t be. Music should be but generally isn’t.”
Listen to their new song below, pre-order the record right here, and catch the band on tour.
6/02 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court w/ No Sun
6/05 – Portland, OR @ Rontoms w/ Cat Hoch
6/07 – Seattle, WA @ LOFI w/ TokyoIdaho
6/11 – San Francisco, CA @ Hemlock Tavern w/ Cruel Summer + Panda Riot
6/12 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo w/ Pale Dian + Tennis System
7/01 – Milwaukee, WI @ Quarters Rock & Roll Palace *
7/02 – Champagne, IL @ Institute for Creativity *
7/03 – Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle * w/ New Canyons + Pale Dian
7/05 – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Tavern w/ Pale Dian + Ex Astronauts
7/06 – Wilkes Barre, PA @ The Otherside w/ Pale Dian + The Morelings
7/07 – Brooklyn, NY @ Shea Stadium w/ Pale Dian + Parrot Dream
7/09 – Providence, RI @ News Cafe *
7/11 – Philadelphia, PA @ Bourbon & Branch *
7/14 – Richmond, VA @ Strange Matter *
7/15 – Charlotte, NC @ Snug Harbor *
7/16 – Atlanta, GA @ 529 w/ Pale Dian + Twin Studies
7/19 – New Orleans, LA @ Siberian *
7/22 – Austin TX @ Empire Control Room w/ Ringo Deathstarr + Pale Dian
* w/ Pale Dian
