Welcome back to Origins, our recurring series that gives artists a space to break down everything that went into their latest release. Today, Been Stellar take us through “Sweet,” the latest single from their upcoming album, Scream from New York, NY.
The post-punk revival is as strong as ever, and Been Stellar are quickly rising through the scene’s ranks with recent opening slots for Fontaines D.C. and Shame. Now, they’re set to drop their Dan Carey-produced debut album, Scream from New York, NY, featuring the latest single, “Sweet.”
The song develops perfectly on the post-punk ethos from which the band hails, but infuses it with a spaciness and shoegaze vibe. This is intentional, as they took major inspiration from Mazzy Star — specifically “the way David Roebuck is able to loop relatively simple chords with open strings underneath gives this sort of infinite longing feel that is mesmerizing.”
Lyrically, the track wrestles with stagnation in a relationship, but ultimately reconciles it. There’s a notion of distress with lines like, “It won’t always be this way,” but also intimacy expressed in the chorus: “Feel at the root/ That I need you.” The song ends on a sweet note, with “So can I be here without you?” developing its themes into a rewarding conclusion.
Like the majority of Scream from New York, NY, the vocals for “Sweet” were recorded by lead singer Sam Slocum in one take. “When recording vocals for the record, we found that Sam’s best takes came in the evening,” Been Stellar tell Consequence. “Dan Carey had the idea to invite close friends to the studio and for Sam to do a vocal take of the album front to back… The environment we created injected a certain urgency into Sam’s voice.”
Watch the music video for Been Stellar’s “Sweet” below, followed by their breakdown of the Origins of the track below.
After wrapping up a tour with Dirty Hit labelmates The 1975, Been Stellar are slated to play festivals including Shaky Knees and Lollapalooza this summer. Grab your passes here.