Chicago indie rock band Discus send shivers down the spine with their dreamy and brooding song “O My Stars,” a wistful reverie full of hope, heartache, and yearning for a heyday that may never come.
for fans of Varsity, Wild Nothing, Japanese Breakfast
Stream: “O My Stars” – Discus
For as long as I can remember, folks around me have been talking about the “good ol’ days.”
The subject of many a Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen song, these “days” are not so much a fixture in time, as they are a template for nostalgia. They’re the concept of a distant memory – the lingering vision of a bygone, irretrievable era of glorious youth and reckless abandon, when life seemed full of promise and potential. You were immortal, and anything was possible.
We were all younger once, so we all theoretically have some kind of “good ol’ days” – some better than others – to look back on, fondly or otherwise. Only, what if you didn’t? What if you’ve waited your whole life, but the “good ol’ days” never came? Such is the eternal ache of Discus’ latest single: The passage of time, with seemingly nothing to show for it. The Chicago band sends shivers down the spine with their dreamy and brooding “O My Stars,” a wistful reverie full of hope, heartache, and yearning for a heyday that may never come.
It’s a hauntingly vulnerable, unflinchingly raw character study that forces all of us to reflect on our own histories, and question whether the “good ol’ days” ever existed, or if it was all, always, a figment of our imaginations.
How I love you
My sugar cube
I am older all the time
Hold me in your eyes
Older all the time
Waiting on my prime
Maybe it’s after everything ends
Am I waiting on heaven?
I am in over my head
(Oh my stars!)
When I get too excited
I close my eyes and pray for rest
Atwood Magazine is proud to be premiering “O My Stars,” the third and final single taken from Discus’ forthcoming sophomore album, To Relate To (out March 28th, 2025 via Sunroom’s imprint, SUN-ROM). The follow-up to 2019’s debut album Something Has Happened sees the band of brothers Jake and Paul Stolz, bass guitarist Kevin Fairbairn, drummer Nick Konkoli, and vocalist Sarah Clausen evolving their artistry and expanding their jangly indie rock sound, all while meditating on the nature of our shared humanity and searching for connection through their music.
“The record is a collection of these exercises, borne from the recognition that almost any moment — an accident, a childhood memory, an athletic attempt at empathy — can serve as a touchstone for understanding,” the band shares. “The more far-flung the character study, the more hard-won the surprising truth at its center — and the greater chance of catching one’s own reflection unawares.”
Arriving on the heels of their contemplative singles “On Tour” and “Alignment, Misattributions,” the tender “O My Stars” is an especially provocative and poignant piece that inevitably uncovers a nugget of universal truth. Over four and a half minutes, Discus adopt a fresh perspective in order to question life’s purpose – and one’s place in it:
Art school changed you
Turned your hair blue
Father of time
measure up my life
It felt so right
When you were by my side
What’s left?
“In ‘O My Stars,’ a mother comes to terms with the fact that her life has gotten away from her,” Jake Stolz tells Atwood Magazine. “She wonders when, or if, her time in the sun will arrive.”
“In the past, a lot of my lyrics have been relatively opaque, and I feel like that can be a barrier between the songwriter and audience, and I wanted to break from that a bit with this one. I wanted the lyrics to be really plain-spoken and emotive, with the hopes that it would allow the listener to have a personal experience with the song.”
A soft and soul-stirring track. “O My Stars” causes emotional upheaval within whilst maintaining its composure without.
Listen closely though, and the song is sure to cause a mini existential crisis in all who listen.
This writer’s best recommendation is to do away with the notion of “good ol’ days” entirely, and focus almost unequivocally on making today – the here and now – the best it can be. Stream “O My Stars” exclusively on Atwood Magazine, and stay tuned for more to come from Discus; their sophomore album To Relate To is out March 28th, 2025!
I haven’t much time left
I wonder where the days went
(Oh my stars!)
It’s looking like my kids
Are picking up my habits
(Oh my stars!)
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:: stream/purchase To Relate To here ::
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Stream: “O My Stars” – Discus
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© Clare Byrne
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