Mazzy Star – ‘So Tonight That I Might See’
Dream-pop is perhaps the most apt genre for that necessary October escapism. For misty autumnal walks and drizzly, candle-lit nights, there is no better soundtrack than the fuzzy guitar tones and ethereal soundscapes of Mazzy Star. Few records carve out a sonic world quite as warm and welcoming as their second full-length studio offering, the lustrous and lauded So Tonight That I Might See.
The now iconic, psych-inspired dream-pop album spawned the band’s biggest hit, the dreamy ‘Fade Into You’. Crafted in just one day, the track earned the band their first and only chart placement. More than that, though, it transcended contemporary acclaim, retaining just as strong a grip over TikTok teens as it did over 1990s alternative enthusiasts. But garnering the admiration of outsiders was never the primary goal of Mazzy Star.
“We’re not so concerned about the outside world,” composer and producer David Roback once told Uncut. “It’s a very internal process that we’re involved in. The outside world is really not on our minds, insofar as the music is concerned. We’re really doing it in our own world for ourselves. We’re engaged in the stories of each individual song. It is its own world unto itself.”
So Tonight That I Might See is perhaps the most apparent example of that philosophy. It manages to fit an entire world into just ten tracks, providing a glistening glimpse into the internal workings of Roback and vocalist Hope Sandoval. It’s so coherent that it becomes mesmerising but never monotonous, so long as you allow yourself to fall head-first into their world.
‘Fade Into You’ is one of the most masterful and mystical introductions of all time, preempting the fuzzy world it follows and inviting listeners to fade into it. Sandoval herself couldn’t even find the words to explain the genius behind the track – she once shrugged off its success in an interview with The Guardian, stating, “I think it’s a good song. I think a lot of our songs are good.”
It’s more than good. Between soft, acoustic strums and intermittent strikes of tambourine, Sandoval interweaves tender, lovesick lyrics like, “I want to hold the hand inside you”, with more abstract imagery, “Some kind of night into your darkness, colours your eyes with what’s not there.” The repetitive instrumentals and the calming imagery are enough to lull listeners into a dream-like state, one which persists throughout the collection of tracks.
‘Five String Serenade’ is a particular highlight, with an intricate, but still repeated, guitar melody set beneath the vocalist’s declaration of, “This is my five-string serenade.” As gentle strings elevate the instrumentation, we find Sandoval in one of the most picturesque settings on the record, drawing on her easel, thinking of her lover.
At times, the record veers further into scratchy, shoegaze-inspired guitars and even harsher rock riffs – in ‘Wasted’, for example – but any deviance from dreaming is pulled back into the world of Mazzy Star by Sandoval’s distinctive and alluring vocals. In its closing moments, the titular track of So Tonight That I Might See delivers its most meditative and comprehensive song. The seven-minute closer features those all-too-familiar tambourine thuds, unrelenting strums, and Sandoval’s low, gloomy vocals amidst whirring guitars, leaving us with the words, “I hold you tight like rain, sunshine on a rainy day.”
Though it doesn’t quite feel like sunshine on a rainy day – it’s far too subdued and sombre to be compared to anything so bright – So Tonight That I Might See does hold you tight like rain. Conjuring pleasant melancholy and monotony in equal measure, it’s a record that will comfort you in your wallowing, gently enticing you out of it and into the world of Mazzy Star.
