Mazzy Star

Dreamy, gentle and rooted in '60s psychedelia, Mazzy Star was an unlikely commercial success in the '90s and an enduring cult and critical favorite. The band evolved out of Los Angeles' Paisley Underground, where guitarist David Roback was the leader of Rain Parade. After leaving that band in 1983 he formed Clay Allison with singer/bassist Kendra Smith, his then-girlfriend who'd just left the Dream Syndicate. Clay Allison changed their name to Opal after one single and sounded notably different than the parent bands, rooted in psychedelic folk rather than rock. Opal toured successfully behind their one album Happy Nightmare Baby, until Smith left the band in mid-tour. Roback called in Hope Sandoval, a young singer he'd been producing. They finished the tour as Opal and the band was rechristened Mazzy Star afterward. The new band's 1990 debut, She Hangs Brightly continued in the ethereal vein of Opal and wasn't designed as a commercial blockbuster; its single "Blue Flower" was a cover of the UK cult band Slapp Happy. However Sandoval's voice proved to have greater commercial appear and the album was a surprise alternative-radio hit, getting reissued by Capitol a year later. The followup album So Tonight That I Might See produced a genuine hit single in "Fade Into You," a typically lovely and dreamy tune keyed to Roback's slide guitar. The album ultimately went platinum but pressure for a commercial followup frustrated the duo. They went for a more acoustic sound on the next album Among My Swan (1996) and split up afterward. Sandoval would be the more visible member during their separation, forming her solo band the Warm Inventions with drummer Colm Ó Cíosóigm, late of My Bloody Valentine. She also guested on albums by Air, Massive Attack and the Jesus & Mary Chain. Though Roback and Sandoval claimed at various times that Mazzy Star was still active, they wouldn't reappear until 2012, when they toured Europe with an expanded lineup that included Ó Cíosóigm. The fourth Mazzy Star album Seasons of Your Day was recorded over a few years of sessions, among the guests was legendary English folk guitarist Bert Jansch who died two years before its release. Following a U.S. tour they went quiet again for five years, with Sandoval returning to the Warm Inventions. 2018 brought an appearance at the Vivid Live festival in Sydney and a four-song EP, Still with two new and two old tracks. It was dedicated to their founding drummer Keith Mitchell who died the previous year. David Roback died on February 25, 2020 at the age of 61, bringing the group to a quiet close.