Golden Apples, the expansive, folksy project from Philadelphia, centered around Russell Edling, is entering an exciting transition period. What started as a lone venture from Edling has flourished into a whole collective that is slowly becoming one of their city’s brightest young stars, cloaking the jagged, sprawling music culture with a blanket quilted from warm melodies and fearless experimentation. Edling established Golden Apples as a sonic chameleon, acting as more of a means to present a self-portrait than a one-person indie band hellbent on making hit records. Much like any great artist, though, Edling has begun to second-guess himself, diving deeper into the intricacies of his craft to unearth something alien. All of his tests pointed to one answer: collaboration.
On Shooting Star, the first Golden Apple album since the band began to cement itself with 2023’s Bananasugarfire, Edling deconstructs his singular, established sound. In the midst of reconstructing his approach for Shooting Star, the typically isolated writing process became an open, collaborative effort, allowing Edling’s lofty visions to stretch even further. The result is a honed, 12-song LP overflowing with busy infectiousness, distorted bliss, and welcomed reinventions. Opening up his process to collaboration allowed Elding’s natural pop sensibilities to flourish like never before, highlighting the intricacies the artist has always hidden underneath the lo-fi warmth of previous releases. There is a jovial lightness to Shooting Star that is undeniable and irresistible, and Edling appears to be thriving in this new sense of collaboration.
Miraculously, even with more hands in the pot than ever before, the Golden Apples sound is more quaint, welcoming, and direct than ever. The tracklist of Shooting Star leaps between radio-ready anthems and experimental indie pop, never tripping over itself in its pursuit of all-embracing consistency. The album never sounds disjointed, even as the band jumps from hectic, complex songs like “Noonday Demon” to pop-punk excellence like on “Ditto.” How far Edling is able to reach without breaking the chain that connects his left-field visions is awe-inspiring, and while his vocals anchor Shooting Star to reality, the production is what gives the album its cosmic name.
Edling’s maturity shines brightest in the vocals, especially on songs like the punchy “Happy” or atmospheric album opener, “Another grand offering for the swine,” but his performances are able to grow thanks to the evolution of Golden Apples’ production. There are many dimensions to Shooting Star, as Edling uses the band’s fourth LP as a platform to introduce the many layers to his artistry.
“Fantasia” is beautifully crafted noise-pop, while “Breeze” is a taste of psych-rock excellence, but the true magic of Shooting Star goes beyond surface level sonics. The fourth Golden Apples LP is a stunning cacophony of the many directions Edling can take his amorphic project and the ease in which he can decide to shift landscapes. More importantly, it introduces a more collaborative side of Golden Apples, another avenue for Edling’s ideas to branch from. Shooting Star is whimsical, psychedelic, and overall, an important chapter in the journey of Edling.
