Been Stellar have shared their mesmerising new single ‘Sweet’ – the latest taster of their forthcoming debut album. Check it out below.
- READ MORE: Been Stellar: indie heroes cutting through New York’s deafening din
The melancholic track features frenetic, interlocking rhythms paired with frontman Sam Slocum’s soft yearning vocals as he sings: “Feel at the root / That I need you, and I need you / I don’t mind all the words / They just sound like, like the feeling / And it’s all getting old / Cause I need you, and I need you / You let it take up every moment / Just a life to hear you say,” explaining the struggle to find the right words to sum up the moment.
‘Sweet’ marks the third track to be released as a single from the band’s forthcoming debut LP ‘Scream from New York, NY’. It follows ‘All In One‘ and lead single ‘Passing Judgement‘.
Speaking about the track in a press release, Slocum shared: “We were all intrigued by the simplicity of the verse, it felt like something we would usually shy away from.”
“I really tried to let the music inform the lyrics, and to not overthink what was coming from the song’s natural feeling,” he continued. “One of the first lines that came to me was ‘we’re speaking when we don’t know what to say‘. I think in close relationships, the most pure moments shouldn’t need to be spoken about. And in life in general, the things that matter the most and bring people together shouldn’t warrant many words, if any. Words complicate feeling sometimes.”
Directed by Gabriel Jace Log, the song’s accompanying video sees the band perform the track in a basement studio with close up shots of each band members throughout. It also sees them walking and hanging out in a snowy park with a lamp.
‘Scream from New York, NY’ is set for release on June 14 via Dirty Hit (pre-order / pre-save here) , and has been described in a press release as capturing “an image of ‘20s New York that’s unrelenting and harsh, where tenderness is a finite resource burned up by the machinery of the city and human connection is a luxury product”.
It is also set to see the band turn away from the shoegaze-inspired sound of their earlier releases, and instead tap into the “disaffected sound and spirit of New York luminaries like Sonic Youth and Interpol”.
Earlier this month, Been Stellar were the stars of NME’s Cover and shared the meanings behind their upcoming debut, as well as the artists that influenced them.
“Your influences are in your DNA. You shouldn’t be thinking about it, it’s going to be there regardless,” said Slocum.
“The main thing for us is to write stuff that we would genuinely want to listen to. It is very easy to fall into those influences, which is not necessarily a bad thing but we just try to block all of that noise out and ask ourselves ‘What would we want to be listening to?’” continued Brunstein.
Knapp chimed in, adding: “Also, what would make us excited as a band? There is always a void for a band you wish existed so we are constantly trying to be that band because you’d be stoked about it.”
The band also shared a playlist exclusively to accompany the story’s launch – find out more about it here.
In other news, Been Stellar are set to kick off a UK next month along with a handful of festival dates. Check out the full list of dates below and visit here to purchase tickets.
Been Stellar’s 2024 UK tour dates are:
MAY
15 – Southampton, UK, Joiners
16 – Brighton, UK, The Great Escape
18 – Amsterdam, NL, London Calling
20 – Bristol, UK, The Louisiana
22 – Manchester, UK, YES (basement)
23 – London, UKThe Lexington
JULY
26 – Sheffield, UK, Tramlines Fest
27 – Oxfordshire, UK, Truck Fest
28 – Suffolk, UK, Latitude Festival
AUGUST
1-4 – Chicago, IL, Lollapalooza