StarAV ft venice lockjaw – Unseen (2022)
The past can seem to haunt us like a ghost lingering in the back of your brain and bringing an uncertainty to the future. This is something that StarAV looks into with his single ‘Unseen’ featuring venice lockjaw. While touching on the past, the single also considers the pursuit of dreams and the realisation of personal truths.
A single that has a lot to say, it moves from uncertainty to the realm of ghosts and into a stronger conviction that leaves you feeling fortified. Singer-songwriter StarAV connected with instrumentalist venice lockjaw on SoundCloud, looking for a collaboration which led to a back and forth while creating this single. Packing alt-folk into indie pop, they blend their characteristic styles and sound for a dark, yet empowering, folktronica blast.
‘Unseen’ has a gentle folky strum to the opening guitar that meets the hazy touch of the strings perfectly. While tender and quite earthy, there is a reflective feeling to the opening that wonderfully sets the scene for the vocals. The instrumental lines that flow through the melody lightly lap and crash into each other, creating a wonderfully unique sound. This builds as the single progresses for a heavier crash that almost mimics the ocean waves. These crashes drop back to the opening gentle guitars, before a hazy sweep covers the higher levels. The dynamic movements of the melody are stunning as they lead you through the different sections of the single and enhance the emotions of the vocals. Through the melody, the duo bring a touch of orchestral grandeur to a scaled-back folky flow.
As the gentle guitars pluck and strum you into the folky tones of the melody, StarAV’s vocals whisper into life. They caress your ears like a whisper carried on the wind as they draw you into a moment of uncertainty. The ghosts of the past are slowly introduced with an overlapping vocal delivery that has you floating in a space where the hauntings of the past grip your senses. While the swirl of the past spins around you, the vocals carefully take your hand and lead you into a moment of realisation. It is a gentle progression that slowly builds your strength. In the last moments of the track, you are filled with a sense of conviction and the understanding that you are able to withstand the storm of emotions caused by the past and let go of the ghosts.
Using overlapping instrumentation and vocals, StarAV and venice lockjaw bring forth the ghosts of the past, before filling you with the conviction to move past them in ‘Unseen’. The melody has a reflective feeling to it as it draws you into the inner journey of the single. This movement is matched by the vocals that turn from a whisper on the wind to an ember of growing strength.
Find out more about StarAV on his Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, SoundCloud and Spotify.
