Music: Desert Stars - Habit Shackles

What do the words “desert stars” invoke in you? For me, they take me to a place where I am sitting on the rocky sand with a blanket over my legs, surrounded by a pure, open silence, and looking up into worlds that we only see from millions of miles away, flickering, bright, unknown worlds that we can only imagine the existence of. Imagination, beauty enveloped in silent dreams. Desert Stars album Habit Shackles evokes exactly that type of feeling in me: music that is dreamy, at times angelic, at times gentle and soft like a fuzzy cloud surrounding you, at times with an edge that teeters on the verge of dream and a nightmare plunge into something deeper and darker, pushing you somewhere that you may not be ready to go to.

There are elements of heartbreak, and sadness within the lyrics and the music that intertwines the words, as well as elements of hope and happiness. It’s the kind of album I want to listen to while lying on my bed, or the beach, or the desert, with my eyes closed, reflecting on my own life, past and future. Pure nostalgia linking every song together as a whole. Beautiful. Harmonies and soaring guitars and words that make you realize that within all of the dreaminess there is a real core that exists.

Desert Stars are Janelle Best, Carrie Ashley Hill, Eric Altesleben, Gregg Giuffré and Jane Herships, and are based in Brooklyn, NY. Their first album, Habit Shackles, was released on July 16^th. See links below for more information on the band and how to purchase the album and catch one of their live shows.

My personal favourites: Normal Man, Farewell Decade and Past in the Trash and the amazing guitar sounds in How Hard You Try.

Desert Stars Facebook
Desert Stars Website
Desert Stars Bandcamp