Hollow Stars drops 'Loser Illusion' out of the blue

• Seth Johnson

While it continues to remain a side-project for a slew of hometown heroes, Hollow Stars has always managed to deliver complex sets of high-minded prog-goth hybrids with a penchant for lyrical wordplay. The quartet of Devin Brown, Mason Brown, David Matysiak, and Colin Mee somehow finds a way to meticulously construct propulsive, brooding, and catchy songs with layers of melody, effects, and turns of phrase. Today, Hollow Stars surprised listeners yet again with the six new tracks on Loser Illusion, the group’s debut LP. Recorded in 2013 in Detroit at High Bias Studios by Chris Koltay, who has also works with Akron/Family, My Morning Jacket, and the Dirtbombs, Loser Illusion plays up the band’s lofty ambitions with a sense of urgent effortlessness and its signature high- and low-brow antics (dig the title, Slash and Axl?"). While “Serpent’s Coil” plays out like Joy Division playing to a sold-out Chastain Amphitheater crowd or Sisters of Mercy covering Styx, extended tracks such as “Foreign Body,” “Eastern Sky,” and “Netzach” pummel space with dynamic rushes of grey-scale color. It’s all about dichotomy, executed in Hollow Stars’ singular, entirely unique presentation. Check out the entire LP below, and download a copy directly via Hollow Stars’ Bandcamp.

Loser Illusion by Hollow Stars