(written by Islander)
The Swedish “cosmic black metal band” Lightlorn haven’t faltered since their first steps, but have only become more and more accomplished. From their debut EP These Nameless Worlds in 2022, to their first album At One with the Night Sky in 2023, and on through their 2024 single “Noctalgia,” all of which we’ve written about here, they’ve created atmospheric black metal that (as we once wrote) “reaches beautiful heights (in keeping with the band’s celestial interests) but also harries the heart.”
Today we happily share the news that Lightlorn are working on their second album, and we gladly extend our site’s attention to the band’s music by premiering a new Lightlorn single named “To Dream of Distant Stars” that’s scheduled for release on October 10th. They introduce it with these words:
From left: Antagonist (drums, backing vocals); Renwar (vocals, guitars, keyboards); Robert (bass)
“Recorded during the sessions for our upcoming album, ‘To Dream of Distant Stars‘ is an ode to human longing and our species’ unrelenting pursuit of that which we do not – or cannot – have. As the saying goes, the grass is always greener on the other side of the galaxy…”
The song’s lyrics are eloquent, and we’ll share them at the end of this article. In brief, as the song’s title foretells, the narrator dreams of distant stars — but does so because he seems tormented by his memories and craves distance from them, wishing for the serenity and “pure isolation” manifested by visions of “unknown suns [that] burn from afar.”
Lyrics don’t always organically meld with the music in a metal song, but they do here. The song itself is strikingly dynamic and multi-faceted, with changes and contrasts that capture both the beckoning splendor of vast but distant nebulae far out in the void and the wrenching anguish and disappointment of someone who imagines them as some kind of reprieve from his own misery.
Lightlorn fashion their dreaming vision of distant stars with notes that brightly ring, like chimes or harps, against a shimmering sonic backdrop. But they also fashion emotional disturbance through vast, searing waves of sound, ominous low-frequency undulations, and beats that feverishly throb and skip; even the intensity of those brilliantly ringing notes increases.
Continuing to dial up the intensity of the experience, they send the drums into blasting mode, broil the senses with their caustic riffing, and summon up furious howls. Down below, the bass sounds like bubbling lava; high above, a piercing guitar shivers and wails. The music engulfs the listener, like being caught in a star’s coronal mass ejection.
More contrasts and mood changes are still to come. The pace slows, anchored by steady booming beats, and the melody segues into sorrow. But the dreaming intensity of the song also soars and sweeps again, albeit without banishing the feelings of melancholy and distress. The intensity also overflows in scorching screams, thunderous drumming, and blast-furnace sonic heat.
Lightlorn also create a phase of seeming hopefulness, and even joyousness, through vividly bounding drums, brightly pulsing notes, and glittering synths and guitars, all of which seem to display a post-punk influence. When they move again into a cosmic expanse, the effect is breathtaking — wondrous, ravaging, and engulfing, but also tormented, especially in the raw and wrenching intensity of the vocals.
The song was recorded at Svart Studio; it was mixed and mastered by David Mauritzon at Soundtornado; and it features artwork by Warren Graham and logo by Dipayandas Arts.
As noted at the outset, the song will be digitally released on October 10th via Bandcamp and streaming services. For more info, and to follow Lightlorn‘s activities, see the links below. Below those, you’ll find this new song’s lyrics.
BANDCAMP:
https://lightlorn.bandcamp.com/
SPOTIFY:
https://open.spotify.com/artist/1HEPvxZsvx76ziDUZKl3re
YOUTUBE:
https://www.youtube.com/@lightlorn
SOCIAL PROFILES:
https://www.facebook.com/lightlorn
https://www.instagram.com/lightlorn.band/
TO DREAM OF DISTANT STARS – LYRICS
Faint starlight, cold glimmer, pale shimmer
Pyres alight, grow dimmer and dimmer
Like fading dreams
Unknown suns burn from afar
Shine for me, call me home
And I dream of distant stars
So serene and alone
Like shadows intangible
Like life so ephemeral
In my dreams, my misery
Lost to memory
Fires in the darkness
Nameless and faceless
Whispering softly
As dreams they haunt me
Churning conflagration
Raging, ever ablaze
Craving pure isolation
Where my mind can ablate
Riverine paths winding
Through this cold starry hell
Dark light-years, old nightmares
Dreams where I’m somewhere else
Dreaming of distant stars
Dreaming of far-off distant stars