Snack Monster [CD]

After a few years of boring, therapized love songs in the pop sphere idealizing romance between individuals who have “worked on themselves” and reached a state of mental, spiritual, physical, and financial wellness (read: purity) I was just so moved by this concept of complicated and messy romance as art. The name Snack Monster was a working title of unknown origin that just stuck. But it’s fitting, since these songs are about love in morsels, craved and devoured and driving you insane.

In my past collaborations with Kevin Basko (aka Rubber Band Gun), we have recorded to analog tape using a reel-to-reel. On Three Chimes, At Silent Palace!, the record prior to Snack Monster, we recorded to tape then layered extensively on top of this digitally. Three Chimes was made deep into the Covid-19 pandemic, and it’s the most lush thing I’ve ever made. It’s cinematic and sprawling and Kate Bush-esque. Snack Monster was a departure and an escape. We made it at Kevin’s childhood home in New Jersey in late summer 2022, and some in summer 2023. The core tracks of acoustic guitar and vocal were recorded to cassette using a Tascam 234, and for the most part we tried to keep additional layering very grounded. There’s no synthesizer which is a new thing for Star Moles. I like how my voice sounds on this record. Since I’m singing and accompanying myself on a nylon string guitar, rather than adding a vocal track over an instrumental, it’s an honest and vulnerable kind of performance. The guitar and vocal define each other and can’t exist separately—basically the songs are codependent. RIYL: Weyes Blood, Kate Bollinger