Trent Graham provides us with gentle vocals, but there’s something fervent about each member's contribution to this single. Having their humble beginnings in Masterton, the piece might evoke a simple image of your hometown's local hotspot where listeners pass through oak doors into this bittersweet warmth of nostalgic folk.
It should be recognised that this is their first official writing collaboration as a band collectively, drawing poetic and emotionally driven lyrics. The song revolves around an a skewed romance and the onerous process of accepting misalignment.
Throughout the piece, we hear guitars, awash in reverb, swell in and out to encompass the variety of instruments. The production and instrumentation within the song works, in contrast, to Graham’s naked vocals that we hear initially. It showcases how clean-cut and original the song is. This single is delicate, refined, and tells us what Shadowcaster is capable of.
Hailing from several points across the lower North Island, Shadowcaster is a fledgling 6-piece ensemble offering an assortment of introspective, upbeat originals penned by frontman Trent Graham. Individually inspired by a wide array of both classic and contemporary sounds, the Shadowcaster family marries their eclectic hodgepodge of styles together to create a nostalgic pop-rock jaunt that's as energetic and vibrant as it is thoughtful and endearing.
Started in 2021, Shadowcaster was started when Trent Graham, who had left the music scene for 6 years after achieving a Diploma in Contemporary Music Performance at UCOL, got another guitar and knew that this is what had been missing from his life. Calling upon his former band mates from high school, the team started working together on writing new, original music, as well as a look at Trent's backlog of original compositions.
Shadowcaster has released 9 songs on digital platforms, started the Small Town Band Podcast, and participated in Battle of the Bands 2023, managing to make it into the Wellington Regional Finals.