Hollow Star release their debut EP. Listen is a concise, tight five-track statement that smothers the lyrical grief in drum riffs and guitar pedals.

A SOUND THAT AIMS BIG

Hollow Star’s debut EP is a concise, tight five-track statement that smothers the lyrical grief in drum riffs and guitar pedals. The sound aims big: The Cure and The Smiths sit in the crosshairs and it lands in a more fragile middle – more insular than Micah Lopez (the artist behind the name) perhaps anticipated as he crafted this on the floor of his one-room LA apartment.

In keeping with its insular origins, the EP aims to reach out to a wider mass with chorus’s that Micah himself admits struggling to fight with performing life because of the raw emotion sitting behind it. The result of his years of setback, algorithmic struggles and isolation is a carefully crafted collection constantly sitting on the brink of collapse. It is here that the links to Smith and Marr sit. The surface crackles with emotional fabric afforded only to those artists who have lived through setback. 

FROM THE SCORE FLOORS OF LA

From Minnesota through Los Angeles, Hollow Star tracked everything on the floor of his LA pad which gives these songs a distinct and wrought tension that never eases; the meticulous drumming and swearing guitar riffs hum against the distinctive, yet most fragile instrument of his set up, the voice. This sound is most prominent on the standout tracks of Wisdom – which sits at the heart of the EP -and Capital both of which are the rock chassis of the EP with smartly-crafted guitar lines that sit just above the funhouse drumming.

The mix favours intimacy over polish which allows the indie fizz and hiss to sit comfortably between the parts. This structure fits the purpose of the EP but at times the more intricate drum parts do get lost in the overall sound. Wisdom sits at the centre of the EP like a raw paper cut requiring constant attention.

The stated heritage of The Cure, Smiths and New Order is most obvious in the tones of the closer, Ceremony. The chorus here, as with most of the tracks on the EP allow the chorus to do the heavy lifting. Yet, there is a modern sharpness to the overall production – more bedroom-pop clarity than retro- pastiche. This distinction prevents the record from slipping and sinking into the realm of nostalgia worshipping. 

A REVERSE ENGINEERED ROBERT SMITH ET AL

Micah Lopez has spent years drowning in the vast sea of quality indie-influenced songwriting and he is quick to quote the greats. The New Order fixation is most clear in the interplay between the shallow bass and deeper lead guitar refrains. At times the devotion to the craft threatens to tip into fussiness but the persistent emotional rawness – frayed vocal takes, lyrics that circle some unresolved wounds – acquiesce to keep the material real and grounded. 

Across the five tracks, Lopez writes about grief, distance and the strange clarity that follows emotional catastrophe – often blurring the lines between address and internal monologue! You can sense the purpose behind these lyrics: there is little metaphor for metaphor’s sake, and when a line lands, it lands because it feels lived-in rather than cleverly constructed. This is most resonate in the EP opening Seconds when Lopez sings: “Everybody’s trying to teach me about you; They say you know me best, Say things they think are true;.” A homage from the Robert Smith playbook. 

Lopez is brave. Using Surely mid-EP with its sprawling 2 and a half minutes of guitar-drive instrumental is no soulless endeavour. It’s there with purpose – an intent to disrupt. For me, it suggests he is as comfortable crafting with a guitar as he is with his voice. The placement of the track is meaningful rather than incidental and for that Hollow Star deserves recognition – well played, sir!

BEGINNING WITH THE END IN MIND

Listen doesn’t yet stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the bands cited, but it does something more than than simple imitation. It turns those influences into a small flickering world where control and collapse are lovingly locked in constant negotiation. For an EP penned on an apartment floor, these five songs arrive with disarming confidence. Listen suggests Lopez’s idealism Lismore about making sure the cracks are revealed in the right places and that there’s enough grit in which he can ‘form the pearl’. This is a recommendation for anyone wanting to branch out beyond their shoegaze / 80s indie bowl and seek someone willing to experiment with this and a fresh perspective. 

Hollow Star: Website

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