Posted: by The Editor
Star Funeral is bringing dreamy, dire tones on their newest song “In The Dark,” the title track from the band’s upcoming debut record. A hazy, grungy song about feeling unsettled at the sight of your own reflection, “In The Dark” lulls you in with a surprising warmth. Embedded in a sludgy pool of guitars is a simple refrain — “I don’t really like that” — sung in a deadpan ramble, a hook so potent it cuts through shitty days, returning to you just when you need to sing it most. We’re happy to premiere this excellent track and video below.
Star Funeral is the project of songwriter Nikki Esposito, previously introduced last April with the lighter, airer “Alone.” The band’s debut, In The Dark, will come out March 24 on Count Your Lucky Stars Records. Count Your Lucky Stars is on a total roll lately, between a slate of great releases last year (Mt. Orinader, Camp Trash, Expert Timing, the list goes on) and a great start in 2023 (Elliot Green’s outstanding Everything I Lack) — “In The Dark” seems to indicate that the label is in for another great one. Read Esposito’s thoughts on the song and video below, and preorder the record here.
I wrote this song about the changes and dark times I was going through in my life in 2017. I felt like I always knew who I was, but after having major double jaw surgery I felt like a stranger in my own skin. Body dysmorphia was something that I struggled with deeply after this surgery, I developed a huge fear of mirrors, they terrified me, I would avoid them at all cost, and while I was trying my hardest to continue to do the things that I love, a lot of doors and friendships we’re closing and I just felt a realization of “oh my god, I lost myself.”
I was so excited to work with Ben and Kris on another video, I really wanted to replicate my fear of mirrors. The studio we shot the video at had some ballet mirrors with wheels underneath. Ben ended up creating a literal house of mirrors, and moved the mirrors into shapes that pushed Brian and I into small spaces, between that… Brian and I were just running and pushing each other. The whole video was honestly an experiment, and it came out so perfectly to describe everything I was feeling.
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Jordan Walsh | @jordalsh
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