Photo by Louise Sullivan

Emily Moales grew up in New England — Vermont specifically — which makes total sense as to why for the majority of her teens and her 20s, she has spent the years prolifically putting all of her energy into her art. Aside from the autumnal months, most of the region is dense with a culture of sleepy suburban and rural living, and when Boston is your only poor excuse of an escape from it, it doesn’t really leave much to do beyond the occasional show your area might be lucky to get and an artsy college town venture to remind yourself that there are people out there who kinda-sorta suffer through it the same way as you do.

This is a long way of saying that if you slept on Highway to Hell, the self-released breakthrough effort by the now-Philly-based Moales’ songwriting moniker Star Moles, you’ll be able to cuff up with it just in time during these trad New England fall aesthetic months when it gets re-released by her new label home at Dead Oceans. And she’s “Born Again”, too, with the added ears to her art on its appended version’s new single.

It’s befitting that Star Moles’ songwriting would resonate with today’s generation of younger indie rock audiences, especially in the post-Geese climate. Her rock styling throws back to a vintage-made-new appeal that hangs onto whatever’s left of reality in this world remains through mildly skronky guitars, a raggedy bar piano, the glow of a Wurlitzer, and a honey-coated voice that turns malaise into its own kind of far out daydream that compliments the modern day pulpit of capitalistic evangelism shadowing the potential of anyone unlucky to be born into her timeline. “We kissed you on your head / We dressed you up real nice / So you could send some e-mails / And pencil in your life,” she sings. When you keep waiting for your life to begin, you have to make do with the hand you’ve been dealt to start anew in your own way in the meantime.

Star Moles’ Highway to Hell will be released December 4th on Dead Oceans.