SnorriSputnik
Love, love, love this album! So happy I discovered it! Great chill out music, music for working, and especially for driving!
Favorite track: Austin St..
galesanddaisies
I picked up a cassette player when I found my grandfather’s collection. This is the second cassette adding to my collection! I love each track— top to bottom. I can’t wait to cruise around through New England with it.
What seemed like the end for the band Gingerlys in 2018 was the fresh start for Lunarette. Members Kevin Doxsey, Brian Alvarez, Colin O’Neill, and electro-pop whiz Jackie Mendoza chose to start anew and return to the studio with Connor Hanwick (prod. Gingerlys LP) to record their shimmering debut, Clair de Lunarette.
Striving for release, both personal and communal, Lunarette lean into the pop sensuality of their polished, electronic world. Lush, swirling guitar layered over dynamic, jangling synth melodies fill Clair de Lunarette’s atmosphere with equal parts mystique and charm.
A shuffled groove and chorus-tinged guitar set the scene of Clair de Lunarette's lead single "Austin St." Ephemeral synth fills out the contemplative, hook-heavy daydream led by vocalist Jackie Mendoza's charming, resonant voice, which meshes expertly into the soft haze of colorful musicianship. While "Austin St." doubtlessly throws it back to dream pop hits of the past, the song's tight, booming production places it distinctly in the present, lending the tune a unique timelessness.
The EP's second single is the pulsing number "Lucky One," a windows down indie pop cruiser. Guided by Mendoza's hazy, longing vocals, "Lucky One" features a driving synth bassline that, like “Austin St.,” simultaneously pulls listeners forward, while tugging on the heartstrings of retro pop nostalgia.
Clair de Lunarette’s final single “Messing” is a melancholy pop song that speaks to the universal experience of feeling insecure around someone you admire. This sensation’s emotional tumult translates through nuanced key changes and chord voicings that create a fertile sonic environment that opens up the song’s theme for broader interpretation. At times Mendoza and O’Neill trade off vocal lines, and at others they harmonize, further underscoring the song’s broadly applicable motifs while emphasizing the group’s compositional acumen.
credits
released March 26, 2021
Out 3/26/21 on Babe City & Topshelf Records
All songs written and performed by Lunarette in Queens,
New York (2019)
Jackie Mendoza - vocals, keys
Brian Alvarez - guitars, keys
Kevin Doxsey - bass, keys
Colin O’Neill - guitars, vocals
Mixed and engineered by Connor Hanwick
Produced by Lunarette and Connor Hanwick
Mastered by Carl Saff
supported by 30 fans who also own “Clair de Lunarette”
Alvvays has always been great, but with this album they took it to the next level. Every one of these songs is lodged in my brain now, permanently (in a good way). s. moxley
supported by 30 fans who also own “Clair de Lunarette”
I think it's difficult to write songs about something other than romantic love, and still be able to communicate the intensity with which those feelings can hit a person. Some of the entries on this album are fantastic examples of this niche. dani_bloop
The Gold Flake Paint bloggers unearth the best need-to-know indie bands. Their end-of-year comp is, ahem, pure gold! Bandcamp New & Notable Dec 17, 2015
supported by 27 fans who also own “Clair de Lunarette”
Shoegaze ist die Kunst des Dröhnens, doch „Everything Is Alive“ setzt diese Elemente nur sparsam ein. Statt Hall- und Zerr-Sounds aufzutürmen, schäumt die Musik in feinen Bläschen über.
https://tortue.substack.com/i/140348114/slowdive-everything-is-alive-dead-oceans Daniel Welsch