Written by: Dave Cantrell

Some stars are made in the heavens and some stars seem as if they should have been formed in the heavens. Jenn Vix very convincingly fits into that latter category. A source of something close to pure light in the alternative/synthwave pop universe for over a quarter century now (her first, self-titled LP dropped from the firmament in the mid-90s, garnering instant love from many publications, Rolling Stone not the least), the Providence-born Vix had the good sense and good fortune to spend her formative – 1980s – teen years hanging out at record stores in New York City, in the process becoming enamored of that fervent, fertile post-postpunk period that spawned the likes of Depeche Mode, Duran Duran, The Human League and countless others. One band that particularly grabbed her attention in that formative decade was A Flock of Seagulls, hearing their first single “Talking” upon its release in 1981 and becoming an instant fan. Fast-forward forty years and Vix finds herself chatting with a friend that just happens to help manage the websites and social media pages for…A Flock of Seagulls. Not one to shy away from the occurrence of a great idea meeting head-on with the opportunity to make it happen (Vix, as it happens, has a long resume filled with collabs with the likes of Reeves Gabriels, John Ashton, Marco Pirroni and Rodney Anonymous among others), it isn’t long before the prospect of working on a project with AFoS drummer Ali Score begins to take shape and today we get to celebrate the fruits of that fortuitous turn of chance.

While Score hasn’t been active musically for a fair spell, you wouldn’t know it from the sound popping off the man’s kit, that infectious Seagulls groove propelling “You Are A Star” with a natural, unforced but inimitable spark that proves crucially integral to the track reaching the spectral pop mystique it’s shooting for. Vix, meanwhile, writing arranging and producing the track (along with being the source of every sound on it that isn’t a drum) continues her almost supernatural trajectory further into a stratosphere that, in fact, defies gravity. A true-to-life incarnation of a wizard, a true star, having launched a career in Iggy Pop NYC (her first gig was as a vocalist in a band that included Adam Horovitz) and never looking back, she may seem like some female version of a retrowave Dorian Gray but the fact of the matter is she’s simply a Rhode Island pop kid that just happens to be endowed with a certain, well, stardust quality, a claim pretty much certified beyond question with the release of this new single.

[“You Are A Star” released Feb 25th via Umbrella Music; photos by JFIVENINE and Linda Score]