Headlights

by Eddie Robson

Dazzling

"Music like this is surely only made by ethereal beings. Or Swedish people."

Headlights are the kind of band you just want to hug. Their music is just so incredibly nice: not nice in a cloying way, just nice in a nice way. Thing is, we’re not sure hugging them is an option. Their music appears to have fallen out of nowhere, perfectly formed: perhaps too perfect. We’ve seen some pictures of Headlights on the internet, and heard that they have appeared live to play their music, but we’re still not fully convinced that they exist. Music like this is surely only made by ethereal beings. Or Swedish people.

Headlights are not Swedish. They are from Illinois. There are three of them - Erin Fein, Brett Sanderson and Tristan Wraight – although they are adding more drifting members at present, the better to vary and expand their sound (and have keyboards, guitars, bass AND drums all at the same time when they play live). They make sweet, psychedelic pop that is made out of everything good. Their 2006 debut, ‘Kill Them With Kindness’, took a while to find its audience, but find one it eventually did: the new record, ‘Some Racing, Some Stopping’, deserves a bigger one.

Over the course of 33 minutes they channel Galaxie 500 (the title track), Spacemen 3 (‘Towers’) and Belle and Sebastian (‘Catch Them All’). ‘On April 2’ is like Phil Spector producing Stereolab. Yes, that’s right: Phil Spector producing Stereolab. It is simply beautiful, it just rolls up and swoons at you. The whole album makes you wish it was raining so that you could sit at the window and stare wistfully at it. The sharpness of their judgement is confirmed by the inclusion of tracks like ‘Market Girl’, which has a more ambivalent tone and adds some variation; changes of pace and ambience keep the whole thing fresh and interesting.

Headlights are not the kind of band who are going to announce their presence loudly. It would seem wrong, hilariously wrong, if they proclaimed they were the best band in the world or whatever. They’re too nice and besides, they aren’t the best band in the world. But they are very good indeed and a lot of people will miss out on their existence entirely because it’s in the nature of their music to be sweet but also subtle, and that sort of thing can slip into the background if you’re not paying attention. But, you know, whatever. For those with the patience to listen, let them hear.

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