Since their formation back in 2010, the Brooklyn-based sextet, 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. After releasing a well-received, self-produced EP, the band was opening for a diverse array of acts 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. Interestingly, that particular single was something of a sonic left turn, as that single bore a resemblance to Sneaker Pimps and Portishead.
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 if you’ve been frequenting JOVM, you might remember that I recently wrote about Fantasm’s first single, “Intrigue,” a single that channels
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 captured the narrator’s psyche and innermost thoughts. The album’s second and latest single “Hero” manages to effortlessly and subtly mesh 80s New Wave with Ennio Morricone Western music scores as the song employs the use of plinking keyboard chords paired with angular and swirling stabs of bass and guitar paired with Christina B’s ethereal cooing. Much like the album’s previous single, “Hero” possess a cinematic feel while being slinkily seductive.
