Since releasing their earliest material in the late 2010s, Joyer—the project of brothers Nick and Shane Sullivan—has continually built upon the minimal bedroom recordings of their self-titled debut release. Their first two proper albums, Sun Into Flies and Perfect Gray, charted an evolution from mumbled vocals, sparse guitar strums, and tape hiss into a more formal slowcore sound just as the genre’s revival was setting in. Now, their newly announced third record Night Songs expands the scope to incorporate a broader range of related influences, as heard on the jangling, hooky, slacker-rock anthem “Star” that serves as the record’s third single.
Replicating the song’s laid-back feel (think Real Estate’s self-titled as a soundtrack to the drive home from the beach, rather than the day spent on it), Shane notes that the lyrics aim to document the simple pleasures of life. “‘Star' is kind of a slice of life of the summer I was having when I wrote it,” he shares. “It has small fragments of different days. Some boring days at home mixed with bits about camping on tour with our friends in Kitchen in Ohio and being attacked by mayflies.”
The track’s video, on the other hand, matches the band’s lo-fi roots. Nick notes that it came together as a spur of the moment project late one night on the way home from a show in Philly. “We missed a turn, so we ended up on one of my favorite roads that’s right across the river from NYC where you can see the whole skyline. I remember us all being almost deliriously tired, but we pulled over anyway because it’s usually so crowded over there during the day and it looked so bright and pretty that night. I’m glad we got this footage to use for this particular song because it was such a fun and weird night that I think encapsulates the meaning of the song being about a weird time in life that’s not necessarily what you expect, but kind of great in its own way”
Check out the video below, and pre-order Night Songs before it arrives April 26 via Hit the North/Julia’s War here.
