San Francisco’s Octavian Winters continue to expand the boundaries of their sound with the release of By the Stars, a shimmering new single arriving ahead of the band’s appearance at Wave-Gotik-Treffen. Where previous track Elements of Air leaned into sharp-edged post punk textures, this latest offering drifts somewhere more celestial, sounding lush, slow-burning, and cinematic.
Produced once again by William Faith and released through Stratis Capta Records, the song unfolds through hushed tom rhythms, luminous melodies, and an atmosphere that feels suspended between dreampop elegance and nocturnal romanticism.
Lyricist and frontwoman Ria Aursjoen says: “The song has the feel of a sea voyage. The images for me were always ones of the vastness of the sky and the sea, and the feeling of the magnificent beauty of the world. The call and answer vocals are like two people calling back and forth across a valley. It’s meant to encompass that feeling of transcendence when you take a meta view of life and of the natural world, and just fall into the beautiful patterns of it all.”
Drummer Randy Gzebb adds: “I remember playing an all-ages show in Northern California, looked up mid-song and saw these two young goth girls at the front of the stage with tears streaming down their faces. That moment told me everything I needed to know about ‘By the Stars’. You know a song matters when it reaches people like that.”
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Octavian Winters
Stratis Capta Records
Cover artwork by Henry Austin Lannan
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