Starpainter’s dreamy musical landscapes, sporting openness and a hazy clarity, mirror the wide, wild open prairie surrounding the band’s hometown of Lethbridge. And, like that prairie where a plethora of subtle nuances reside within a few square metres, so do an abundance of beautiful textures created by nestled guitar, wandering keys and clear vocals reside within a few musical bars. With songs sounding like they’re drifting aloft on radio static in the basement of a Big Pink house, the present fades over the horizon as the past grows larger in the rearview mirror.

Formed in 2019, the band has released two albums, the most recent being 2023’s Rattlesnake Dream, where easygoing melodies rove desert vistas approaching Laurel Canyon, or maybe the Oldman River Valley. The effect is a trippy journey to count constellations out past the edge of town before returning to the worn, familiar, comforting streets and vignettes of everyday life, longing and heartache. Airy sepia tones leave lots of space for dreaming, for remembering, for wishing things had been different, or wishing the good things, the simple things, lasted a few more hours.

-Mary-Lynn Wardle