Michael Jakucs began creating music under The Stars Above moniker in 2010, to explore the interaction between music and emotion. Using the infinite unknown of the universe above us as inspiration, The Stars Above is easily relatable upon first listen; however, subsequent listens reveal the detailed layers embedded within each song. After graduating from university in 2013 with a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy, Jakucs, like many, experienced the abrupt shift from life as a college student to that of a professional. For the last two years he's seen the dark side of the soul working the streets of Los Angeles as a Private Investigator. He channeled his range of thoughts to craft an album that is deeply personal and contemplative and reflective of the rebirth and fresh start that life changes so often elicit.

The Stillest Hour

Artwork by Paolo Fortades, Mikey Maietta, and Cody Wolterman

On the 23rd of April 2015 we posted a single ‘Lazarus Effect’ from [ The Stars Above ] full length “The Stillest Hour” in the light of gathering some listeners for what’s to come from the band and at the same time showcasing the band latest movement. After lingering in some agonizing vagueness for almost two months awaiting the final impact of “The Stillest Hour”, the moment has finally arrived and the timing couldn’t be any better. Couple of days back I received the full album in .WAV format and I am happy to say, today (June 12th 2015) the latest album from [ The Stars Above ] sees the light. But before we go any further into the album description I just want to say one thing and that is… the great thing to notice on this predominantly progressive title is the musical landscaping and the constant evolving nature of its composer. Remember to focus on that point as you read / listen along. There are various factors that could attribute to this statement, i.e. the background of the artist, the live / studio recording experience of the band or simply the continuous effort of contributing one record annually since 2012. Those series of determinations could well be the core factor of the derived nature of [ The Stars Above ].

Moving forward, as a blogger for almost a decade, I’ve come across myriads of monikers and one has to admit, after such dedication and exposure, my musical buds and my hearing senses have grown hyper sensitive over the years. In today’s music industry, let it be conventional or unconventional music’s my overall musical taste have a great tendency to manifest and to rely on emotion as oppose to the actual sounding of a particular artist, and with [ The Stars Above ], from the beginning I sort of, have developed an instant connection with the music itself. Beyond all the rhythmic punches and progressiveness I can easily access the softer / emotional side of the band and that alone is a great deal for me. Musically, what I discovered about “The Stillest Hour” or [ The Stars Above ] as an outfit, is its willingness to aggregates many influences and genres. For instance, the music can be labelled as post-rock, post-metal, definitely progressive and most likely low end shoegaze. Those are the common grounds the album explores, but as a whole “The Stillest Hour” is plain and simple a progressive album based on its guitar melodies and a low-end shoegaze title considering its vocals attribution.

All together the album brings an interesting concept in the sense that the singing part of this latest album, which counterbalances more than just an exalting wistful chant to supersede all the bolder elements while its backed-up by mellow instrumental arrangements, nothing too aggressive or too subtle on the instruments side though, something just in the middle to morph the sound so as to have an easy flow and a polish finished. In addition to the bold elements and the vocals attribution comes a great deal of minimalist arrangements that allow for space and interplay between the instruments. These characteristics are well-conferred across the album and advocate the end result meticulously. The ambiance never feels overwhelming even though there are many influences in the music and the motif are above all thoughtful and concise. The production is as near as perfect, the subtlety of the details is impressive and the mood shifts crashes in sequence. Someone who has followed [ The Stars Above ] works from the very beginning of its musical career would easily rate this new album an 8 to 8.5 out of 10 but those who are not familiar with the band works and only came to know the band recently would be more inclined to lower rating, probably a solid 7.5 to 8 out of 10. Either way, check out this new release guys. Interesting indeed.