by Dan Goldin (@paintingwithdan)
gobbinjr’s songs feel lived in, from the inescapable grooves to the appropriately dazzling production, there’s a sense of comfort. Perhaps crystal rabbit moon should feel lived in as an album eight years in the making, but if patience is the key, then patience truly is a virtue. With the highly anticipated album due out April 10th via Substitute Scene (Anna Altman, Wetsuit, Snakeskin), gobbinjr aka Emma Witmer, has refined her sound with a real textural elegance that thrives on minimal compositions. There’s an astounding clarity to it all, cinematic yet close, with a real sense of personal reflection in the songs. While the project has shed it’s once lo-fi roots, it’s done in favor to the songs themselves as gobbinjr slips between bedroom pop and dreamy psych with a perfect back lit glow.
“stars implode,” the record’s second single, opens with the soft touch of sustained synths, keys, and a really gluey rhythm highlighted by Witmer’s exceptional bass progression. Just as you feel inclined to sink into the song, gobbinjr start shifting things around, dropping out elements as others arise, the entire framework remains in tact but the details fade and reappear in new shapes. With distortion and samples that last a matter of seconds before receding and a drawn out tranquility, the path weaves ever so briefly into fuzzy punk territory, bashing it out for a fractured moment before snaking back into surrealist pop at its catchiest. It really is too damn good.
Speaking about the song, Witmer shared:
"‘stars implode’ is a song about grief as reflection/regret, illumination/memory, and time travel. Just as the lights we see in the sky have taken years to reach us even after the stars themselves have gone out, we carry with us the impact of our lost ones everyday, long after they’ve left us. This song is an ode to a too distant friend gone far too soon whose light will never fade."