Clinic Stars – ‘Only Hinting’ album review: a beautifully dreamy debut
THE SKINNY: It is officially no longer summer – at least in the northern hemisphere. As the days get colder and gloomier, it’s only appropriate to match the weather with an atmospheric soundtrack, and Clinic Stars have the perfect album to offer. Only Hinting, their debut LP, is a gorgeous, texture-laden slowcore dream, offering up fuzzy landscapes for listeners to simply dissolve into.
Hailing from Detroit, Michigan, known for birthing important precursors to punk like The Stooges and MC5, as well as the legendary label Motown, Clinic Stars seem to take more from British dream pop acts like Cocteau Twins. However, they almost definitely have been influenced by Michigan shoegazers Loveliescrushing, too, sometimes allowing their heavenly instrumental palette to sink into pure walls of reverberating noise.
The legacy of these bands has lingered through much contemporary indie music, but there are only a handful of modern bands that are truly capturing the spirit of ‘90s slowcore and ethereal shoegaze, and Clinic Stars is one of them. Made up of Giovanna Lenski and Christian Molik, the pair know exactly how to create otherworldly soundscapes that take the listener to another plane, where everything is a little hazy yet, at the same time, life becomes a little clearer.
When listening to Only Hinting, you gain a sense of clarity. Despite the longing, the desire for escape, and the pain that life brings, if it can all be made to sound this beautiful and haunting, surely we’ll all make it through? The album is best heard played in full from start to finish, allowing each song to blend into the next as blankets of sound lay on top of each other.
This is arguably one of the best debuts of the year, comprising eight songs of pure beauty. On ‘She Won’t Be’, a thick layer of sound undercuts tender guitar notes that create a feeling of intense melancholy, while ‘I Am The Dancer’ begins with a heavier fuzz, emulating the sound of despair or calmness, depending on how you interpret it.
For fans of: Rubbing Vaseline over your phone camera lens to make your photos all hazy.
A concluding comment from my teenage self: “I couldn’t think of anything more perfect to listen to as I daydream my life away.”
Only Hinting track-by-track:
Release Date: September 20th | Label: Kranky | Producer: Clinic Stars
‘Kissing Through the Veil’: Breathy vocals, a melancholic riff, and downbeat drums open up the record. There’s a sense of nostalgia here as if you’re driving away from something, looking out of the window as cars and lights flash by. [3.5/5]
‘Only Hinting’: On the second track, the pace picks up a little, with elaborate guitars weaving over atmospheric noise, creating a feeling of floating. The vocals melt into the instrumentation, becoming one with the gorgeous soundscape. [3.5/5]
‘I Am The Dancer’: Heavier and fuzzier, the song embraces the listener in a layer of sound that makes way for mellow, contemplative guitars and equally layered, dreamy vocals that have an airy quality to them. [4/5]
‘Remain’: This is a song that feels like it would have emerged straight from the ‘90s. It’s a gorgeous track that you’ll instantly want to add to your playlist, although it fits perfectly well between the softer tracks that sandwich it. [4/5]
‘She Won’t Be’: An ambient beginning teases something bigger coming – the use of tension here is fantastic. The song then gives way to tender guitars and a steady rhythm that keeps the song afloat, soon welcoming shimmering percussion. [3.5/5]
‘Shiver (Walking over Time)’: Allow yourself to be completely immersed in this one, which has a slight air of mystery to it, emphasised by its gentle fade out into silence. [3.5/5]
‘Isn’t It’: Gorgeous guitars swoop in and out as the band plays with loud and quiet, building to a heavier final section, where the lightness of the guitars contrasts the darkness of the brooding bass in the background. [3.5/5]
‘Thoughtless’: Whirring guitars circle around the listener as we’re enveloped in a more hopeful sonic landscape. There is much less melancholy in this closing track, making for a lovely end to the album – which offers moments of both light and dark. [4/5]
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