US glam-punks Starbenders have returned with a new single called Tokyo.
The four-piece’s track, out via Sumerian Records, precedes the arrival of their new album, which is due to come out next year. It’s their first new tune since their record Take Back The Night was released in 2023.
Tokyo’s lyrics are about an alien coming to Earth and exploring seedy urban streets, as Starbenders singer/guitarist Kimi Shelter explains. “It was really fun to write because that song just fell out of me,” she says.
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“It’s about extraterrestrials coming into our world. I can kind of see myself as being the ultra-terrestrial pulled into this dimension of the night time streets. The city is always alive, but at night it’s a whole other world. I think the character comes into the night and doesn’t really understand why they’re there and maybe is confused and then is trying to figure out who they’re supposed to go to.”
Shelter described Starbenders’ music in an interview with Classic Rock last year. “We’re a rock’n’roll band with all these split-offs,” she said. “There’s so much goth influence, metal, punk, glam, and we’ve pretty much been underground the whole time.”
She also explained her broad array of influences, from classical composers to rock and metal. “I couldn’t explain why something like Vivaldi would appeal to me just as much as Children Of Bodom or the Rolling Stones. But I always think, too, it’s 2023, people are putting Doja Cat on the same playlist as Judas Priest. Rock bands need to be given more dignity, again, in terms of [having] the full range of human emotion.”
Starbenders are currently touring the UK as support for nu gen musician Mothica. The band will play in Manchester tonight (September 27) and Glasgow tomorrow. They also have a hometown show in Atlanta, Georgia, planned for November 9.
