On paper, the dreamy Atlanta rockers Lunar Vacation's new song "Lights Off" looks like the band's country move. It's a mostly-acoustic shuffle with harmonicas and slide guitars, after all. But Lunar Vacation take those elements and do something radically different with those ingredients. "Lights Off" starts off quiet and stripped-down, but even there it feels muffled and haunted. As the song builds, it gets woozier and woozier in very cool ways.
"Lights Off" is the first new thing that Lunar Vacation have released since their sophomore album Everything Matters, Everything’s Fire came out last year. The band is still touring behind that LP, but "Lights Off" does not appear to be an outtake. The band recorded Everything Matters, Everything’s Fire with Faye Webster collaborator Drew Vandenberg, but they produced "Lights Off" themselves. Band members Ben Wulkan and Maggie Geeslin directed the blurry video. In a press release, singer/guitarist Gep Repasky has this to say:
This song feels like an open letter. Naturally, I have my own meaning tied into it, but whether or not it's a letter of adoration or the final farewell, it's not for me to say. Whether it's about something physical or intangible, it's also not for me to say. It could be about both or neither. It is up to the listener to create their own meaning, take what resonates with them, and use it to be the kindling wood in the growing fire of feeling, creativity, thinking, and understanding."
Check it out below.
"Lights Off" is out now on Keeled Scales.
