Just reminiscing

Nostalgia and cardigan pop loom large in these local releases

- GRAHAM REID

BRAVE STAR, by Tom Lark
Auckland-based Tom Lark has as many personae as names: he releases cruisy dance-floor pop as Shannon Matthew Vanya, but he's also Shannon Fowler when producing and collaborating with Merk, Randa, Georgia Lines, Christchurch psychedelic drifters Fuzzy Robes and others.

But for this long overdue debut album as Tom Lark previous alt-pop-rock Lark releases were years ago - he steps confidently into melodic, slightly delic dream pop with nuanced guitar and inviting vocals. This is most notably on the singles Radio Blaster, the country-flavoured Live Wires, and Brave Star, about the mayfly lifespan of former celebrities who've had "the peek round behind the curtain ... maybe you are a star but not the one you thought you were".

This could sound cruel or glib, but Lark's delivery suggests some empathy.

Move On looks back on being the kid running away from home but going back, and in adulthood being the same, one who "never seems to move out, just move on".