I don’t remember where I heard StarGazing first, but the EP has been in the back of my mind. Their first release was in 2021 with four singles before this first EP. at the end of. is a four-song EP that presents a melancholy and melodic sound, almost like light shoegaze. It moves slowly but with purpose.
To get started, “Desvelo” is mainly instrumental with a small amount of vocals. It feels like the vocals are mainly set up to center you in the song before the instrumentals take over. The guitar and keyboard mix guide most of the song with bass and drums providing the surrounding structure. It’s one of those songs that sounds interesting in this recorded form, but I think that it’s a song best heard live.
I’m pretty sure there is some post rock and shoegaze influence. “Black Dog” has verses that sound like the precursor to post rock breakdowns except StarGazing doesn’t fully step into that world. I kind of wonder why the band doesn’t expand the sound during these verses. There is a definite flow in the arrangement and the music can benefit from this increase. It could be a mixing and mastering issue.
The song that should lift StarGazing’s presence is “별이 져도 새벽은 오지를 않죠.” It’s a self-contained movement over the 4:58 track time. The slow start, the continual build-up, and the sweeping conclusion are excellent. However, I wonder if there’s a fear of totally letting go. “별이 져도 새벽은 오지를 않죠” is the song that should release all the tension that the song built up.
Closing the EP, “Maybe This Is How It Was Meant To Be” is what I wanted from the entire EP. It’s formulaic for the genre but has all the perfect elements. The song is excellent, the composition is spot on, and the close leaves a taste in the mouth. If StarGazing is going to live in this audio world, then they need to commit.
It’s possible that StarGazing is becoming more comfortable with their style. Or the band needs to work on mixing and mastering but the potential is there. I want a bigger sound, a wall of sonics, to hit me during the bridge peak or a minimal attack. Right now, everything feels too normalized.
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