Comprised of founder, keyboardist and vocalist, Christina B, Shaw Walters (guitar),Sara Mundy (backing vocals, keyboards), Tysen Arveson (bass) Josh Davis (drums) and Isabel Alvarez (backing vocals, keyboards), the Brooklyn-based sextet of Starlight Girls have developed a reputation for a unique brand of “noir-ish indie pop” and a live set that employs the use of video projections since their formation in 2010. After releasing a well-received, self-produced EP, the band found themselves opening for a rather diverse array of band including Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, Kate Nash, La Sera, Lucius, Tilly and the Wall, St. Lucia and Crystal Fighters. which expanded their profile nationally. Building on a growing profile, the band followed that up with a 7 inch single “7 x 3” which was produced by Xiu Xiu’s Jamie Stewart, and interestingly that effort was a sonic left turn, as their sound on that single bore an uncanny resemblance to Sneaker Pimps.
Produced by band members, Christina B and Shaw Walters, Starlight Girls long-awaited full-length debut, Fantasm is slated for an October 13 release and the album’s first single, album opening track is the percussive “Intrigue,” which features angular guitar played through gentle washes of reverb, chiming keyboard and atmospherically swirling electronics paired with Christina B’s ethereal cooing. Sonically and thematically, the song seems to channel Siouxise and the Banshees — in particular, “Hong Kong Garden” and “Arabian Knights” — as the song is darkly seductive, cinematic and yet deeply intimate, as it captures the narrator’s psyche and innermost thoughts.
