Star Moles "Snack Monster"
This album kind of started as an academic pursuit. I was taking a course on medieval literature when I was introduced to Andreas Capellanus’ Rules of Courtly Love. Initially, I thought it would be a great idea to make a concept album with a song for each rule. As you’ll see, this album has only 7 tracks which isn’t even close to the number of rules there are. But certain rules immediately inspired me and captured my attention. The song “Tides” is about jealousy (Rule 2: He who is not jealous cannot love). The song “Why” is about not starving oneself of love (Rule 8: No one should be deprived of love without the very best of reasons). The song “Rules of the Court” is, as one might assume, about a romance that abides by these rules, many of which reflect on the tormented state of the lover, pining in secrecy and constant fear of losing love.
After a few years of boring, therapized love songs in the pop sphere idealizing romance between individuals who have “worked on themselves” and reached a state of mental, spiritual, physical, and financial wellness (read: purity) I was just so moved by this concept of complicated and messy romance as art. The name Snack Monster was a working title of unknown origin that just stuck. But it’s fitting, since these songs are about love in morsels, craved and devoured and driving you insane.