After you’ve released two albums, how do you do to follow it up? The Albany based band, Stellar Young’s, latest EP And Turned To Ash, is as founding member John Glenn (vox/vocals) describes it, “the final of a concept trilogy,” something the band has been working on since late 2014.
The earlier cogs in this wheel, Became a Flame, a straightforward rock and roll EP, and The Spark Caught (the first of three) which goes in multiple directions, have set the musical bar high for the finale . The opening track “Silhouette By Line” bathes you in warm expansive tones, setting the stage for the rest of the EP. Track two, “Wait,” followed by “Old Roots,” pick up where “Silhouette By Line” leaves off. For a moment you get lost, listening to a liquid suite and not just three separate songs, as the feel and flow align. Maybe a trilogy within a trilogy?
“Dance with Static” sits in the middle of the EP. The song takes a right turn from the previous three, cleansing the musical pallet with it’s foot tapping straight away groove, while preparing you for the rest of the meal. “Struck” and title track “And Turned to Ash” round out the EP, sweeping you back into the sonic glow that envelops the EP.
Producers Dan Dekalb and Jimi Woodul (Dark Honey) have captured the band’s aura that radiates throughout this final piece. The music glides ever so smoothly from single instrument and vocal to full on band and back again without upsetting the character of the songs. Well thought out arrangements enhance the quality of the writing and playing, putting And Turned To Ash in the keep pile.
Key Tracks: Wait, Old Roots, And Turned to Ash
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