Been Stellar Reveal Origins of New Song “Sweet”: Exclusive
The post Been Stellar Reveal Origins of New Song “Sweet”: Exclusive appeared first on Consequence.
Welcome back to Origins, our recurring series that gives artists a space to break down everything that went into their latest release. Today, Been Stellar take us through “Sweet,” the latest single from their upcoming album, Scream from New York, NY.
The post-punk revival is as strong as ever, and Been Stellar are quickly rising through the scene’s ranks with recent opening slots for Fontaines D.C. and Shame. Now, they’re set to drop their Dan Carey-produced debut album, Scream from New York, NY, featuring the latest single, “Sweet.”
The song develops perfectly on the post-punk ethos from which the band hails, but infuses it with a spaciness and shoegaze vibe. This is intentional, as they took major inspiration from Mazzy Star — specifically “the way David Roebuck is able to loop relatively simple chords with open strings underneath gives this sort of infinite longing feel that is mesmerizing.”
Lyrically, the track wrestles with stagnation in a relationship, but ultimately reconciles it. There’s a notion of distress with lines like, “It won’t always be this way,” but also intimacy expressed in the chorus: “Feel at the root/ That I need you.” The song ends on a sweet note, with “So can I be here without you?” developing its themes into a rewarding conclusion.
Like the majority of Scream from New York, NY, the vocals for “Sweet” were recorded by lead singer Sam Slocum in one take. “When recording vocals for the record, we found that Sam’s best takes came in the evening,” Been Stellar tell Consequence. “Dan Carey had the idea to invite close friends to the studio and for Sam to do a vocal take of the album front to back… The environment we created injected a certain urgency into Sam’s voice.”
Watch the music video for Been Stellar’s “Sweet” below, followed by their breakdown of the Origins of the track below.
After wrapping up a tour with Dirty Hit labelmates The 1975, Been Stellar are slated to play festivals including Shaky Knees and Lollapalooza this summer. Grab your passes here.
David Roebuck from Mazzy Star:
For this album, and most specifically this song, Mazzy Star were an ideal we were often chasing. The way David Roebuck is able to loop relatively simple chords with open strings underneath gives this sort of infinite longing feel that is mesmerizing. His strumming patterns also just give this intense feel of Americana heartbreak that we were obsessed with.
My Dinner with Andre:
This song is about the roundabout ways we come to realize why we’re around the people we’re around. A lot of times this comes from real conversation — around the hour mark, after all the life events, etc. have been covered and you get down to the essence of a relationship.
My Dinner with Andre blew our minds the first time we saw it because it’s an incredibly realistic depiction of this despite the fact that it was scripted, and took place on a set. We envy the awareness that someone must have to capture this, so it was a big inspiration for these lyrics.
The Beatles’ “Strawberry Fields Forever” Video:
When we started talking with Gabe and Razzi about the video for “Sweet,” we knew we wanted the performance to take place in our basement practice space. However, we started to imagine how we could contrast that space with something more surreal. The video for “Strawberry Fields Forever” by the Beatles was a big point of reference for us — particularly how they use blue hour and lighting.
Confined Spaces:
Photo by Bernie Almanzar via Unsplash
We wanted to capture the feeling of existing in confined spaces for this video. Affordable practice spaces for bands are hard to come by in the city, and we are lucky enough to be able to practice in the basement of our apartment building. We liked the intimate and packed-in nature of using our actual practice space.
Been Stellar Reveal Origins of New Song “Sweet”: Exclusive
Venus Rittenberg
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