Dunedin dream pop and indie rock band Fool of Stars began in 2019 as a high school cover band influenced by The Cure, The War on Drugs, Cocteau Twins, Slowdive and the indie New Zealand sound.
Lead singer and guitarist Olive Ward, organist Jacob Smith and drummer Max White were all raised in Dunedin and met through high school and church.
With Mr Smith living in Vancouver and Mr White travelling across Europe, Ms Ward is the sole band member to remain in Dunedin — but this is nothing the Covid-19 pandemic had not already prepared them for.
Ms Ward said the lockdown was useful for developing emotional skills, such as keeping in touch with people when they were far away and prioritising relationships, something she hoped would be to the album’s benefit.
"When you see them in person, you remember why [you] like being around them so much and that chemistry, even more when you realise what you have been missing," Ms Ward said.
"With any kind of creative project especially, that spark is so important and in real life it is even more amazing."
Despite the online resources of video calls, Google Docs and long email threads, Ms Ward said a lot of their work came down to personal practice.
She said it was tricky to co-ordinate across multiple time zones, and involved a lot of disjointed calls between band members about their vision for the album, with only two people working together at once most of the time.
Ms Ward said hearing their music was like a time-capsule of every little change they had exchanged online.
Being able to co-ordinate a band despite being in different corners of the world was inspiring and a testament to their passion, she said.
