Stellarays: Imaginary Nostalgia
A trio from Portugal harness the artificial power of invented memory
From Portugal, Stellarays are Bruno, Centeio, and Corinna, a trio proposing tuning into an ever-shifting radio transmission, the needle of our mental receiver skipping from station to station and signal to signal, constructing both space and time.
Following their debut album released on Castles In Space, “L'Orchestra Pop Le Stelle” is their full-length LP, also released in 2021 but this time on the cassette-only Modern Aviation label.
Self-described as “14 tracks of radiophonic pop and cosmic polka”, the concept is immediately stated by the opening track, where an announcer's voice introduces us to the listening session as he speaks, in Italian, over a nostalgic yet peppy march through sweet xylophone riffs, “galactic guitar” and sentimental, descending chords.
A joyful and bold statement, it's a track that sets the mood for what follows, which can only be described as a needle gliding randomly across the radio dial, time-traveling across the entirety of a century’s worth of broadcasts, picking up only the most evocative frequencies, and then synchronizing the wildly random signals into a homogenized melange of alchemical potential.
More than the sum of its parts, this delicate collage of sounds charms the ear with nostalgic tonalities and gentle eccentricity, a testament to the educated criteria of a curious musical sensibility.
At once reminiscent of childhood fascinations and free-associating improvisational juxtapositions, declaring a highly personal eclecticism, the mood remains independent from any particular narrative, intentionally fuzzy yet comforting, seeking and finding affinities between genres as disparate as folk, world music, science fiction movies, cartoons, advertising jingles, and TV game shows.
There is no pretense of authenticity, neither are the influences bound to any specific style nor do they invoke the atmosphere of a faraway destination.
That said, the eccentric orchestrations recall the brief '90s revisionist flirtation of trip hop with '50s and '60s exotica, an idea based on deconstructing the artificiality of mid-20th century exotica, which once signified otherness to western suburbia, in a post-modern attempt to rewild domestically orientated post-war effluvia back towards the strangeness of their initial off-shore origins.
Less aspiring to the sophisticated jet-set and more pertinent to an affordable all-inclusive weekend away, the album reconfigures the legacy of minor pop idioms, such as off-duty TV station signals, call waiting soundtracks, foyer music, soothing hotel lounge aural wallpaper or the placid timbres of vintage easy-listening airline-curated headphone playlists
The range of sounds, predominantly organ-led, are agreeable yet non-specific, meant to play along many imaginary situations, appeal to many tastes, inherently polyphonic in structure, pulchritudinous in tonality, in search of harmonic melodies and emotional chords.
Filaments of '90s post-rock, Stereolab, Krautrock, electronica, and library music glimmer as their metallic fibers are woven through elementary analog percussion pre-sets, reminiscent of the enervated late '90s lounge electronica of To Rococo Rot, gently moving along synthesized swirls and Moog pads, echoing bells, the rhythms remaining sensual and languorous throughout, keeping the vibe inquisitive.
The band writes: "These tunes flow with the old wooden organs (that many families had at home), Latin rhythms along with polkas and waltz. There's no doubt that air travel brought a new stage to pop music and the organist became a kind of seafarer, playing a samba in a Swiss Winter resort's club area, or a march on a tropical hotel.
This is all funny to us and our radiophonic approach led us to make an almost organist album with sometimes a slight feel of a larger pop orchestra… and after all this comes the dreamscape and hallucinations of Pan’s musicians."
Similar intentions inform “Winter Resort Music”, Stellarays' latest album which was released in late 2023, again on the esteemed Castles in Space label, only this time the library ethos is more prominent, owing to a sleeker production, featuring simpler analog tones and more pronounced melodies while relying less on sampled sounds and diffused soundscapes.
Inviting listeners into a realm of whimsy and introspection, through their adept manipulation of sound and texture, Stellarays craft an auditory experience that transcends mere music, simulating a time machine traveling towards a moment in history that might be invented, but once it is summoned, will always be remembered fondly.
Text written by Panagiotis Chatzistefanou, Berlin, March 2024