‘ARONE x s t a r g a z e’ - We launched the album!
We have finally launched the official ‘ARONE x s t a r g a z e’ album! On December 1st 2023, the latest s t a r g a z e album hit the streaming platforms after nearly a decade long collaborative relationship between our orchestral s t a r g a z e r s and Buke and Gase, via Transgressive Records and Brassland. The album has been described as a vibrant yet intricate and captivating journey into the minds of genre-agnostic musicians in conjunction with Buke and Gase, an artist who evolved from New York’s underground buzz and makes up one half of the music duo ‘Buke and Gase’. Not for the faint-hearted, the album has been carefully designed to result in a rich combination of finely tuned classical elements, bursts of raw creative exploration and contemporary flair.
Melding polyrhythmic strings, percussion, and orchestral flourishes in combination with Buke and Gase’s unique vocals, each track is formed together as an experiential piece of art. It’s a real testimony to the talent of each individual member of the s t a r g a z e orchestra collective, and we are really delighted with the outcome. All of the songs in the album give focal attention to singular musical elements of each instrument as the tracks reach varying climaxes.
With the entire album lyrics written by the vocalist Buke and Gase herself, the album ‘ARONE x s t a r g a z e’ features songs with sparseness and emotional weight, echoing themes of challenges in relationships, such as communication, acceptance and consequential decision-making. Tracks such as “Sugar Friend” explore dealing with entitlement and the importance of boundaries. “Don’t Say” tackles anger at wealth disparities, whilst “Spider Practical” depicts the delicate and complex nature of humanity comparing relationships to that of a spider’s web. The album also pays homage to Dyer’s late mother in an emotional tribute within the song “Carwash”.
How did we meet?
The s t a r g a z e collective first encountered Buke and Gase at Haldern Pop Festival in Germany back in 2014. After watching the New York duo ‘Buke & Gase’ performing, the s t a r g a z e team really connected with Buke and Gase and the creative ideas began. The following year, while performing as a part of the [PEOPLE Festival](https://peoplefestival.berlin in Berlin with members of The National and Bon Iver, the s t a r g a z e ensemble met Buke and Gase for the second time and first arranged to collaborate on her solo compositions. Those sessions ignited the initial conception of the album that you hear today. In 2020, the pandemic hiatus became a creative opportunity for our collaborative project to really take off.
A successful s t a r g a z e kickstarter campaign for the album raised €25,000 EUR, which allowed Buke and Gase to visit s t a r g a z e in Europe and make new music where instrumentals were recorded at Wisseloord Studios in Hilversum, Netherlands by Sam Jones & Ira Helfferich. Dyer later recorded vocals at Polyphonic Workshop in Hudson, NY, by Aron Sanchez, Dyer’s longtime collaborator and bandmate in ‘Buke and Gase’.
We are so grateful to all our Kickstarter supporters who contributed to the development of the album - your support was absolutely integral to the completion of the album! We couldn’t have done it without you.
Go and listen!
❤️ the s t a r g a z e collective