Single reviewsThe Other Side Reviews

The Director’s Cuts – STAR (2020)

Growing up, many people were sold an idea of what they needed to do to get the dream life they want. These ideas are what The Director’s Cuts is taking on in his single ‘STAR’. Drawing on failed dreams and frustration, the single considers the anger brought by the high expectations sold to people which are nowhere near reality.

Using an instrumental soundscape, this solo cinematic project is steeping in creativity and captures all the feelings you never knew you had. Peter, the man behind the music, uses his music to explore contemporary society and the human experience. Mixing musical stylings with cinematic influences, he gets you lost in his music while really thinking about the world around you.



The deep piano line that draws you into ‘STAR’ has you breathing deeply. The depth of the piano is tempered by lighter ambient tones that tremble across it. The layers of the melody are wonderful as they bring the contrasts of the human experience to vivid sonic life. The gentle piano line is the base of life while the tones hovering above it is the noise of the world and everything that we experience on a daily basis.

The single takes a turn halfway through with more aggressive tones taking over. The piano line rests in the low levels but loses some of the gentleness to the vibration of angry melodic lines. This burst of energy is a crescendo of emotion that pulses through your chest and really gets the heart pumping. As with everything in this single, it is a clear representation of when life becomes too overwhelming and everything feels like it is crashing down. The turn back to the gentle piano line gets you breathing again for the calm after the storm of emotion.


https://youtu.be/0_xl-jsxepg

The music video for ‘STAR’ puts the music to one potential scenario for the crashing of emotions. The video opens with a man sitting on a bed clearly contemplating something important. A woman appears behind him and we are treated to a situation that many people have been in as the gentle piano line winds its way into your ears. As the music turns, the situation in the video does as well with a crash of emotion and confrontation. The visual display of anger perfectly matches the music that pounds against your chest.

The Director’s Cuts uses a layered melodic approach to bring anger, frustration and feelings of being overwhelmed to life in ‘STAR’. The instrumental track combines gentle piano lines with rising feelings of frustration until everything boils over in a wonderful crash of music. The accompanying music video brings the emotions of the music to cinematic life and places it in a very real situation.

If the music of ‘STAR’ has you hooked to the depth of The Director’s Cuts’ sound, you will not want to miss his debut album and film coming this winter. To make sure you don’t miss it, check out his website and the other links below.

Find out more about The Director’s Cuts on his website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Spotify.