Starflyer 59
[#] Dejame Dormir (2025)
An oddball conversation piece for Starflyer completionists.
Reviewed November 30, -0001
Ever the chameleons, I don't know who necessarily would've pegged Starflyer for a lullaby-style instrumental record of covers...of their own songs. It's not completely left-field; songs like "I Was 17" and "All My Friends Who Play Guitar" are hushed, midtempo, whisper-sung, playing as lullabies as they are, and Dejame Dormir provides a decent, if kind of bizarre, cross-section of their entire catalog, from Silver cuts to mid-career B-sides to the then-recent Lust for Gold. That said, while gentle and pleasant enough, I'm not a huge fan of how reverent this is to the material—and at times, it doesn't even seem to commit to its own concept.
As far as I can tell, Jason and his normal band aren't actually involved here. Frank Lenz, former Starflyer drummer, is only credited for "production". This isn't just odd, it might explain why these songs stick so close to their original arrangements, just with toy pianos and glockenspiels—they're covers. ("All My Friends" even copies the original's swelling coda.) In practice, these play anywhere from near-ambient tunes to instrumental Christmas music to entirely-too-full practically MIDI recreations of Starflyer songs. I would've much preferred long, slow, drifty explorations and improvisations around Jason's genuinely great riffs and melodies. Y'know, something you could actually sleep to.
| Essential: | "I Was 17", "New Guitar", "Hazel Would" |
|---|---|
| Quintessential: | "When I Learn to Sing" |
| Non-Essential: | "All My Friends Who Play Guitar" |
| Rating: |  |
| Further listening: | Download from Starflyer 59's Bandcamp |