Stars and Rabbit – Pretty Anticipated
If you were, like me, born in a non-Westernized country or in a smaller town from such land, finding new music that deviated from the norm could be an ordeal. The radio played the hits, the locals listened exclusively to those, and anything outside of the accepted commercial norms seemed to belong to another universe altogether.
The internet, especially, for all the things worth complaining about, proved an incredible promotional tool and a veritable Library of Alexandria of strange, beautiful sounds. Not only that but the music made by quirky individuals, instead of manufactured pop stars, finally stood a chance of travelling the world and delighting a global audience.
Indonesian indie-pop duo Stars and Rabbit are the quirky musicians of which others like me dreamed while growing up. Their music and aesthetic feel almost entirely removed from modernity. Pretty Anticipated, a song about isolation, much like the rest of their music, feels like a snapshot of a pop duo from a time long passed, belonging to a mysterious place. There’s great innocence to the performance, too, with the playful vocals sounding as if they might have been produced by a toddler singing to themselves. Pretty Anticipated is a very well-tailored retro-pop tune about highly pressing issues.
Sunshine & the Blue Moon – Sweat
I love listening to the radio while driving to a foreign country. The great fear and joy of being offered playlists that often include songs by local bands is that at just the right moment, you’ll stumble upon a gem of a song, never know what it was and lose it forever.
Of course, given the recent technological advancements, the chances of that happening are slim. You can Shazzam it, search for the lyrics, or, I guess, as a last-ditch effort, even contact the radio station. My point is that music that seems to spring from out of nowhere and leave a big dent in the part of your brain that focuses on pop music is quite a special thing.
Sunshine & the Blue Moon’s Sweat is a unique tune. It’s nearly 6-minutes of modern psych-rock that although wobbly and dazed, feels sharp and focused all of the ways. It sounds as if it was commissioned for a big yet quirky Hollywood production. It sounds like a cult hit waiting to happen. And, most importantly, it sounds like the kind of tune that you’ll be glad to one day stumble upon once again.
