Stella Rose - Hollybaby

That Stella Rose’s full name is Stella Rose Gahan – daughter of Depeche Mode vocalist Dave - allows for both her purported status as NYC indie sleaze revival socialite, and the neo-goth elements that are peppered throughout this short-but-sweet EP. Stella’s moves are on the indie side of this: the synthetic drum sounds that chug through the opening title track are the outlier, with the track otherwise topped off by grungy guitars. Similarly, ‘Beautiful Twentysomethings’ owes much to PJ Harvey in pace and vocal delivery, and New York neighbours Sunflower Bean’s latter heavy turn. It’s final track ‘Drugstore Romeo’ which impresses most, meanwhile, as the power balladry of ‘80s film soundtracks seeps in alongside a suitably atmospheric spoken-word undercurrent.