ABOUT
The nostalgic tones of a Juno-106 combine with ambient layers, sparkling guitars, and airy, bittersweet vocals to define Portland dream pop band Starover Blue.
Founding members Kendall Sallay and Dirk Milotz began the group in 2007 while studying music at San Jose State University, then relocated to Portland in 2016 where they reformed as a six-piece. The band’s penchant for lush vocal harmonies, textural experimentation, and subtle use of odd meters appeals to fans of acts ranging from Cocteau Twins, Beach House, and Big Thief to The Joy Formidable, The Velvet Teen, and Wye Oak.
A new LP is underway for 2025 release, taking inspiration from heavier-hitting indie rock versus the synth pop textures of 2019 LP Ordinary Magic and 2016 debut Spacegeist.
Kendall Sallay-Milotz / Vocals, Guitar
Dirk Sallay-Milotz / Synths, Guitar
Jared Kauk / Guitar
Matt Bishop / Bass
Shiloh Myers / Backing Vocals
SHOWS
PRESS
“…mixes the bittersweet calm of the Cowboy Junkies with the ethereal ambience of the Cocteau Twins.”
“…takes me back to the soft-singing pop and country singers of the ’90s—but their influences are vast, and it all ends up sounding like beautiful gloom pop.”
“Starover Blue comes at indie music from a different angle to most bands. The hooks and melody lie at the centre of the song, for sure, but here, there’s a strong role for the instrumentation, its layering and symbiotic relationship with the folk-indie vocals creating an overall effect that burns slowly but brightly in the listener’s mind.”
“The guitar work is simple and elegant, landing all the right notes without devolving to tasteless runs. There’s a clean indie sensibility, with evidence of Phoebe Bridgers, My Morning Jacket, and Band of Horses heard throughout…a proper effort that cuts through the psych pop takeover.”
“With dreamlike synth melodies, mellow folk guitar and mathy post-rock rhythms, Starover Blue weave together myriad influences seamlessly.”
“The reception to Ordinary Magic has been positive, with comparisons drawn to classic dream-pop of the ’80s and ’90s…showcases the band’s textural experimentation and subtle use of odd meters.”
“There’s an airy effervescence to Ordinary Magic, which is at once cerebral and deeply personal. Ethereal vocals whisper over lush synth pads and acoustic guitar riffs, evoking an atmosphere of hazy mystery, but also one of comfortable intimacy. At the core of Starover Blue’s sound—beyond the Stranger Things-esque synth lines and drumming that drives the polyphonic soundscape to loftier energy levels—are heavy undertones of melancholy and longing.”
“Like any classic dreamy pop-ballad, the low, lilting tones and airy snyth in “Anemone” make you want to put on a gauzy dress and dance around in the moonlight. Each note feels like a soft step - hesitant but purposeful…invokes aesthetics of a modernized Kate Bush music video; think ‘Running Up That Hill.’”
“While the band’s previous full-length Spacegeist looked outward, exploring themes of technology and dystopia, Moneystealer looks inward, reflecting on the landscape of personal grief, finding ways to celebrate life in spite of mourning.”
“Starover Blue’s sound exudes a steady self-awareness that one might expect from a creative partnership of 11 years and counting. Dirk Sallay-Milotz's Juno-106 synthesizer produces a reverent nostalgia and is given equal footing alongside Kendall Sallay-Milotz's airy soprano in the mix. The equality of the two creates an environment where it is the sound as a whole that shines, rather than a single piece.”
“…full of haunting melodies and cascading synth lines, and lands somewhere between Beach House and Julia Holter…at times the album recalls Julee Cruise, the frequent David Lynch collaborator, with Sallay’s ethereal vocals floating over a wash of synths and guitars.”
“…the guitars are crystalline and static and the synthesizers are robotic, swiveling between hypnotic organ and futuristic drones. Beat the summer heat by putting on this album — the temperature’s guaranteed to drop ten degrees while it’s pulsing from your speakers.”
“Where the group once favored folky instrumentation, acoustic arrangements and 4/4 time signatures, they are now incorporating synthesizers, looking to the Romantic composer Frederic Chopin for guidance on chord progressions and incorporating tricky rhythms.”
INSTAGRAM FEED
