‘STELLAR’
LONDON HEADLINE SHOW, NOTTING HILL ARTS CLUB JUNE 15TH Pop quintet HICARI have unveiled the video to their brand-new single ‘Stellar’, which premiered with Clash yesterday. A metaphorical representation of the song’s lyrical themes, the video features a flamboyant band performance intercut with an entertaining narrative featuring sumo wrestling. Although playful, it perfectly conveys the message not to judge a book by its cover!
‘Stellar’ is a huge pop anthem with ‘80s synth hooks, taking influences from the likes of CHVRCHES, The 1975 and St. Lucia. Lyrically, the track tackles the subject of body image and the pressures to conform to modern-day, media perceptions of unrealistic beauty.
Lead vocalist Shai comments, “From the age of 11 to 18 I’d been bullied for being chubby and it has always played on my conscience. My mum always told me otherwise but I was convinced that I wasn’t good enough to be seen as attractive. Where I grew up, physical ‘beauty’ was seen as the only thing that made you worthy of being someone and so I grew up determined to be what people thought was beautiful. Now I see how subjective beauty is, we all perceive it differently and so for me ‘Stellar’ was being on both sides of the spectrum.”
Vocalist and keyboard player Ryan adds, “As a kid in school, I always fell for girls who had talent and great personalities. I remember completely falling for a girl because she had such an incredible voice, I couldn’t come to terms with why other guys only talked about the ‘popular’ girls who had nice faces and big boobs. ‘Stellar’ is celebrating how innocent and oblivious I used to be, and rejecting how society has tried to teach me that ‘real beauty’ is on the outside.”
Hailing from Liverpool, HICARI, which means ‘light’ in Japanese, are a multicultural band of friends who are made up of Shayaan Oshidar (Lead Vocals), Ryan Bickley (Lead Vocals, Keyboard), Tatsu Saiki (Guitar, Keyboard), Paddy Morrison (Bass) and Will Brown (Drums).
Donning their finest glitter, they will be playing a number of dates this summer including a London headline show at the Notting Hill Arts Club on the 15th June.
Thurs 1st June – Shipping Forecast Supporting First Hate, Liverpool
Thurs 15th June – Notting Hill Arts Club, London,
Fri 23rd June – Chester Live Festival, Chester,
Sun 23rd July – Liverpool International Music Festival, Liverpool