release date: May 21, 1990
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,68]
producer: David Roback
label: Rough Trade Records - nationality: USA
Track highlights: 1. "Halah" - 2. "Blue Flower" (live on Later) - 3. "Ride It On" - 6. "Give You My Lovin' " - 7. "Be My Angel" - 10. "Free"
Studio album debut by American indie rock band Mazzy Star, which basically is the continued project of the band Opal (initially named Clay Allison) - a band with Kendra Smith (of The Dream Syndicate) on vocals and bass, and after her departure, the remaining members changed name to Mazzy Star, which here is made up by songwriter and main musical composer David Roback (former member of The Rain Parade), who is credited as guitarist, keyboardist and pianist, Hope Sandoval on acoustic guitar, organ, harmonica, xylophone, and drummer Keith Mitchell. Allegedly, Sandoval replaced Smith in Opal for the live tour after the band's debut album, and after some time touring as that unit, and as they were still contractually bound to a follow-up to the debut with songs composed and written by Smith / Roback ready to be recorded, but Sandoval had also initiated a composer partnership with Roback, and the decision was then made to trade the Opal follow-up contract with Rough Trade for the debut release with a bunch of new songs by Mazzy Star.
Stylistically, the band stands out as one of the prominent artists of what became known as the style of Shoegaze / Dream Pop with strong bonds and influence from 'noise rock' and the sound of Jesus and Mary Chain and My Bloody Valentine. The sound is stripped from the element of noise rock and instead Mazzy Star focusses on the moody side, which also connects them with Cocteau Twins, who on the other hand played with a more layered wall-of-sound to create their visceral sound. Mazzy Star may start as a band but is primarily held together by its two songwriters, Sandoval and Roback, and the music is related to the Paisley Underground movement with bands like The Dream Syndicate, Rain Parade, Green on Red, and Thin White Rope amongst others. Hope Sandoval has her very own singing style and melancholic sound with bonds to Nico, Marianne Faithfull and Leonard Cohen, and followers like Cat Power and Lana Del Rey is mentioned as singers who owe much of their singing style to Sandoval.
I really enjoy the songs by Sandoval and Roback, who support each other quite nicely. Sandoval's almost mourning vocal is a fine balanced blend of periods and styles, but all with focus on a certain melancholy, and Roback's swirling guitar is another fine blend with reminiscence of Velvet Underground, The Byrds, Stooges, and then also contemporaries like Robin Guthrie (Cocteau Twins), Jim & William Reid (The Jesus & Mary Chain) and Kevin Shields (My Bloody Valentine), and the production sound of She Hangs Brightly is somewhere in the neighbourhood of the same bands with strong spacious feedback on both vocal and guitars helps creating that "dreamy" atmosphere, which paved way for the style of dream pop.
Recommended.
[ allmusic.com 3 / 5, NME, Rolling Stone, Q Magazine 4 / 5, Select 5 / 5 stars ]
