One of the best things about the 2020s has been the re-appraisal of under-appreciated post-punk, shoegaze, and dream pop. Ever since the excellent, unknown-in-their-lifetime Life Without Buildings became a viral sensation on TikTok at the height of the pandemic, there’s been a gold rush on dreamy, atmospheric, romantic guitar rock from the 1970s through the 1990s. That’s not to say that Cocteau Twins or Low – the two most relevant touchstones on Only Hinting – are incredibly obscure. Cocteau Twins had four albums crack the Billboard 200 throughout their existence, while Low became famous for soundtracking a commercial for the Gap. It’s just that the lens of history has largely flattened that era into a reductive holy trinity of the Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and My Bloody Valentine.
Only Hinting deals in lovely contradictions. From its opening moments, on “Kissing Through a Veil”, with its hypnotic pulse and breathy, ethereal vocals, Giovanna Lenski and Christian Molik acknowledge the alienation and isolation of being human, of the inherent unknowability of anything or anybody while simultaneously offering a hint of a solution, teasing connection if even through a gauzy scrim. Clinic Stars themselves seem to be this lacy screen, judging from the follow-up title track, which is a dead ringer for the Cocteau Twins’ “Sea, Swallow Me”, with its romantic arpeggios and inscrutable lyrics, takes you by the hand, guiding you into their dreamy soundworld with a mixture of melody and a swooning, laidback sway. Like the Cocteau Twins, Clinic Stars understand that poetry and surrealism go down smoother with a sweet spoonful of accessibility.
Only Hinting is powered by these twin polarities of catchiness and atmosphere. “Remain” is another Cocteau Twins-worthy romance, with sweet, addictive guitars and a warm, plaintive vocal. Its predecessor, “I Am the Dancer”, sounds like 1990s acoustic rock washed up like driftwood, as distant and heartbroken as Grouper or Nicole Dollanganger. “She Won’t Be” is a minute-and-a-half of dream sequence synths and swooning drones until it settles into a soothing Velvets chug, like “Sunday Morning” played at 10% speed before ending its runtime as a stately post-punk ballad.
The name Only Hinting seems apt, as Clinic Stars seem to be gesturing and intimating rather than coming right and saying things overtly, like inky shadows dancing across stucco. The thing about Only Hinting is that the more you listen, the more you want to listen. Clinic Stars draw you into their gauzy, poetic interior world and invite you to sit and think until you’re as familiar with the shadows as if they were an alphabet. It’s an incredible debut and an outstanding achievement in a year stacked with incredible shoegaze and dream pop. Kudos to Kranky Records for branching out from their ambient rock roots to embrace 4AD-style loveliness. It wouldn’t be a shock to hear Only Hinting mentioned in the same breath as legends like This Mortal Coil in 10 years.