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about
XOXO, the 4th single off Star Matriarch’s forthcoming LP Red Ship, is a lush pop marvel that encapsulates the exquisite agony of an inaccessible crush. You love him, but he’s taken. And you can’t say a thing. Damn.
As with her previous, more hard hitting releases, she opts for sounds you can feel on your arm hairs or kidneys - scratchy melodramatic strings, chunky guitars, plush flutes, punch-through-the-wall drums. It's this uber sensory experience that gives it an 'awesome ethnic wedding' vibe, as one white dude put it. Star Matriarch is a master at delivering that 'hurt so good' feeling.
And her voice. It's more sweetly achy than pithy this time, almost Marilyn Monroe. It’s like if Joni Mitchell had an alt-rock phase, got drunk, and overshared about Mr. Inaccessible while dancing at a Bollywood club. Even though she’s got a guy of her own. “He’s there to distract me at night | But he’s not you | Though I enjoy him alright”.
lyrics
We met just days after you got married
You said you loved her but I hoped it was in haste
We walked, drank coffee,
conversed
self-consciously
He was just as unavailable as you
He tried hard to take all I wanted for you
I wanted to please, to be what you've been to me
Oh you, you're a clown and you
know how to bring out the best in me
But you have a home that's too
happy for it be right
to let you know
Years pass, I'm still writing songs
Years pass, I'm so proud and I'm strong
I see you, I laugh, I am joyful
Then I cry on the phone
Yea, he is there to distract me at night
But he's not you
Though I enjoy him alright
I see you, I laugh, I am joyful
Then I cry on the phone
Oh, you. You're a clown and you
now how to bring out the best in me
But you have a home that's too happy for it to be right
to let you know
So you can never know
I will never tell
You'll never here me say
I love you
What would you say
What would you say?
What would you say
To me?
Carol Bui, aka Star Matriarch, weaves experiences as a 'raqs sharqi' dancer, ex-whore, and ex-punk-wannabe into thrilling
musical worlds with a delicate balance of raw power and vulnerability.
After a 10+ year hiatus, Carol returns with updates and additions to her 2011 LP 'Red Ship', slated for reissue in vinyl format on Exotic Fever Records sometime 2024...more
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