Deaf Star – Sunset Overdrive

I enjoyed Sunset Overdrive on my very first listen, but somehow it took a lot of replays to finally be able to put all my thoughts about the record into words. I’ve grown used to niche music being so tightly framed within the confines of single genres, even ones claiming to be experimental, that I was absolutely caught off guard by how much more musical ideas, layers of sound, influences, and production techniques were poured into what, at least on the surface, was a home studio-conceived shoegaze record.

But first things first. Deaf Star is the latest project of Barcelona-based experimental musician Ivan Zoloto. He’s not a stranger to DIY Conspiracy, as way too many years ago, we did a feature on his former and now-defunct label, Full of Nothing, and more recently, he’s appeared on our pages with his drone doom trio Petrozavodsk (who also have a new album, but that’s a topic for another discussion). While Ivan’s musical projects are always diverse and span almost the whole spectrum of experimental electronic music, the meticulous attention to detail, outstanding visual aesthetics, and spot-on production are among the features that are ever-present in his work.

The nightmares were rehearsals

For these dim times

No cure for the sick world

Dim times

Deaf Star was founded while Ivan was living in San Francisco, and was finished when he moved back to Europe. A quick look at the record’s lyrics, a few minutes into it, and its melancholy-drenched textural sound will wash over you like a seashore on a stormy day. While fuzzed-out wall-of-sound guitar work is at the core of most tracks, Sunset Overdrive‘s music comprises many more varying elements. One thing that particularly stands out among the raw yet melodic sonic mass is the deep bass lines, which give the guitarscapes a much-needed hypnotic foundation that keeps dragging you deeper and deeper into the music.

The sound of Deaf Star draws as much from the work of shoegaze veterans as it does from distortion-heavy trip-hop, bass-heavy electronic music, and noise. All these influences are masterfully sculpted in pieces that feel drifting but certainly not aimless. On the contrary, each track on the record has something special that you immediately connect to and remember, be that in the rhythmic loops a track is structured around, be that in the vocals and lyrics, or in the way the music generally redefines the already shaky definitions of what shoegaze means.

Yes, you play…
But does anyone listen?

Sunset Overdrive is a surprisingly accessible record, especially within the context of Ivan Zoloto’s previous and more recent noise work. However, it still remains a demanding musical experience, which rewards multiple listens and the careful unpeeling of all musical and sonic layers it hides. When blasted on full volume, one can experience its multi-layered arrangements, raw production (which has been taken especially good care of by Simon Scott of Slowdive fame, who was on mastering duties for this album).

So give yourself a present, listen to Deaf Star’s Sunset Overdrive, and experience shoegaze in a way you never did before.