Shallow Alcove Shines Bright With “Your Star”
photo courtesy of @shallowalcove Instagram
Shallow Alcove’s newest single, “Your Star,” is an open letter to a past romantic partner. But more than that, it is a bittersweet self-reflection of growth that finds comfort in the uncomfortable.
The message of the song hits close to home for Shallow Alcove newcomer Grace Krichbaum because it is, in fact, her letter. “I just wanted to get across this message that love, or any other extraneous thing, can’t fill your void,” Krichbaum said. “Collecting lovers or dying your hair isn’t going to solve your unhappiness.” In “Your Star,” Krichbaum recognizes that being with someone, just for the sake of being with them, won’t make a person any more whole.
While “Your Star” is Krichbaum’s first song with Shallow Alcove — which also includes members Dan Harris, Griffin Goode, Jack Harrington, and Noah Dardaris — her journey with the band started two years ago when she and Harris had a class together. Harris, who plays guitar for Shallow Alcove, had been on the hunt for a singer with a higher voice and invited Krichbaum over to their house to play music. “The first day I met them, really, they were like, ‘Do you write? What do you got?’ and I was like, ‘Not really. I’m not good at guitar,’ because I’m really self-conscious about that sort of thing,” said Krichbaum. “But I just felt really comfortable with them and I played ‘Your Star’ for them and they were like, ‘Shut up. We love this song. What are you talking about you don’t write?’”
When Krichbaum brought “Your Star” to the band, it was a simple finger-picking ditty with two verses and no chorus. But after a collaborative writing effort, the song became what it is now: a haunting, guitar-centered melody with an ear-warming bassline and happy-sad lyrics that rival even Krichbaum’s idol, Phoebe Bridgers.
Before Krichbaum, Shallow Alcove’s sound consisted of indie rock riffs like Shakey Graves and choir harmonies similar to Fleet Foxes. But with “Your Star,” the band doesn’t need to force anything. Instead, Shallow Alcove discovered an entirely new sound because they actually wrote a song that they really like. “[Krichbaum] introduced a new sound to us that kind of formed itself, honestly, just having her presence in the room,” said Harris. “I guess the vibe of the band changed a whole lot because we used to get so caught up on writing a hit, I think, that for a long, long time it felt like work.” If Krichbaum’s presence teaches Shallow Alcove anything, it’s that writing music doesn’t have to be complex. It just has to feel good.