Starling is a maker of pop music. This much you may already know. But unless you’ve been particularly quick on the uptake you probably won’t have seen her latest release - her new video for the song You. So here it is. I have so many questions about this video. It’s mainly centred around a large translucent box in a field. Why is the box there? Why is coloured smoke coming out of it? Why does Starling dance around it as if it is the most normal thing to do? Why does she grab some smoke sticks herself? And where were they from? What is the pink room in which Starling spends some of the video in? Why the glittery orange suit which seems a little inappropriate for prancing around in a field? Why the spinning vase? When looking at art, literature and music there’s a school of thought that says we shouldn’t try to interpret what the creator means but should just decide what it means to us as the consumer. On that basis I’ll say that that what this says to me is that Starling is a bit bonkers (in a good way) and has made a pop video that is a bit silly but aesthetically pleasing. I'm sure in reality there's a connection to the meaning of the song, but that's for you as viewer to decide. Watch You below. Enjoy it, but ask your own questions and find your own answers. In other good news, if like me you’re going to see Catherine McGrath play live this week get there early because you get the special bonus of Starling supporting. I wonder if she’ll bring her translucent box with her? Starling - You (Video)
I can categorically say that until today I have never listened to a pop song titled after those odd little French choux pastry balls with a moist filling and a chocolate topping. But now that I have I’m glad I did. Because Starling’sProfiteroles is a lean, mean and peculiar piece of electronic pop music and certainly the only one you’ll ever hear where the lyrics mentioned those pastry balls in ‘the pockets of Charlotte’s pink dressing gown, she’s sick again, must be the neighbourhood.’ Add in some expressive dancing in the video at some slightly overcast locations and you can consider my interest piqued for her forthcoming EP The Soul, which is the follow up to 2017's EP The Body – you can see what she’s doing with those titles can’t you? Starling plays The Waiting Room in London on 26th September. Starling - Profiteroles (Video)
Yes, it’s true, that as I hit the ten second mark of this new video from Starling (you may remember her from these posts here and here) there was a very high chance that I’d be featuring it on the blog. Regular readers will fully understand why. Newcomers may need to tap into a few of my previous posts (soaking up this piece here is as good a place as any) to fully understand. But irrespective of the bath action (in Starling’s case clothed, but with water) there still needs to be a good song to accompany it. No Rest For The Wicked is certainly that. It has a boldness to it, from its come-and-have-a-go-if-you-think-you’re-hard-enough bass line to its lyrics: “I’m sick and tired of being the nice girl, got to rearrange this,” she sings, giving a cheeky wink to camera as she does so at one point. Throw in what looks like a typical burger and chicken joint in London (complete with stray Christmas decorations and a house speciality of Spaghetti Bolognaise) and a tatty block of garages for Starling to up-style with her glamorous presence and what you’ve got is a sassy, cool looking, budget video. Then for extra value you get the bath. It seems to me that at some point in their lives, every musician will suddenly feel the desire to involve the bath in their art. Although I’m still waiting for Kanye to do it to be honest. Once he's been there it will be game over. No Rest For The Wicked comes from a forthcoming EP, due in the Spring. Starling - No Rest For The Wicked (Video)
After the haunting piano led beauty of Take It Down (what a song) and Misfit, Starling returns with Wild Heart and destroys all of our preconceived ideas about her being just a slightly left of centre balladeer that probably composes all of her songs by candlelight. “Take what you need, I'm just an animal, I'm not responsible,” she sings. Woah. We wonder what sort of animal? A lion? A tiger? Maybe a hamster? Oh hold on, isn't she a bird judging by her name? There’s some spike and force here; crashing drums, throbbing electronics and line about a thorn in her love. Don’t worry, it’s not as if she’s gone industrial or written a heavy metal track, as Wild Heart is still unquestionably listenable, but a fire has been added to the intriguing mix. Starling - Wild Heart
Alas not a cover version of the Curiosity Killed The Cat ‘banger’ and therefore no opportunity to start a beret revival, but still a rather fascinating song all the same. “You can tell all the boys I don’t want to play,” Starling sings defiantly on Misfit, the b-side to the drop dead beautiful Take It Down, which introduced her to the world last month. If you haven’t heard that yet, then your ears are missing out on a treat, click here. Words like ghostly and brooding were designed for Misfit, this piano based song existing in its own unsettling world that would probably consist of a shadowy underground space lit by a solitary candle. Starling plays her first headline show at Servant Jazz Quarters, London on the 29th October. Starling - Misfit
In the UK Starlings look black at a distance but when examined closer their feathers are a sheen of purples and greens. There’s a similarity with this new artist who goes by the same name. At first Starling’s debut song Take It Down might seem like just another straightforward piano ballad, but on closer examination there’s much more to it. The lyrics intrigue and perplex with lines such as ‘I’m no prisoner, I plead guilty.’ It makes some sense then that her Soundcloud biography states that depression, solitude and a cathartic approach to writing form the lyrical basis to her work. It’s clear that we’re not dealing with someone who is just going to blast out a simple love song or a five minute pop thrill about dancing in ‘da club’. Take It Down sounds confusingly sad, but also effortlessly beautiful. A fine start from this new musician. Starling - Take It Down
