My Majestic Star – I Haven’t Got It In Me
My Majestic Star hail from Perth, Western Australia, the world’s most geographically isolated city. Not that that’s a particularly meaningful fact when everywhere is just a mouse click away from everywhere else. Their oeuvre is post-shoegaze / nu-gaze or whatever you’d like to call it, with obvious nods to the likes of My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive and particularly the Drop Nineteens. What stands them apart is Miriam Braun’s sympathetic cello playing. The instrument isn’t over-used, but shines when it leads the melodies rather than just being used as a background drone instrument.
I Haven’t Got It In Me is a mixed bag of vocal tunes and instrumentals. It’s also a mixed bag of sonically adventurous pieces, and straightforward slowish indie-pop. At its worst it’s unremarkable rather than unpleasant. Some of the tracks drift by in a haze of ennui with telegraphed chord progressions and forgettable melodies. At its best it’s a joy. ‘Like Cracked Glass’ rattles along with fairly feverish intent, and ‘City Sleeps’ is a lovely song redolent of Low.
It’s the bookending tracks that really grab the attention, though. ‘Stranger’ is an epic instrumental with the melody driven by the cello, swathed in sheets of atmospheric guitar and the magnificent ‘Dry Lakes’ is a shimmering heat haze of wide vistas built around a stunning two note loop of glassy wonder that William Basinski would be proud of.
For more from Dez please read his blog Music Musings & Miscellany