“She’s Pure Astral Light (Or So She Says)” is the kind of song title that gets more interesting the more you look at it. Without the parenthetical, it sounds like a metaphor one would use for a lover, like “She’s a Rainbow”. But when was the last time you heard anyone – or anything – described as “pure astral light”? It’s not even necessarily complimentary, so much as suggestive of something otherworldly. With the parenthetical, of course, it becomes a little funny: imagine the kind of person who would compare herself to a ray of ethereal starlight! No wonder the narrator casts a skeptical eye.
No part of the title shows up in the lyrics of “She’s Pure Astral Light”, the new song by Pretty Bitter, but it does a good job of describing the woman to whom the narrator addresses the song. She’s someone with a strange aura, an otherworldly presence, but she’s still capable of being just as messy and selfish and anxious as mere mortals. “You like ghosts/you hold them in your hands/and bum their smokes,” frontwoman Emelia Bleker sings. And this being of “pure astral light” can also feel terrible about herself: “You said the earth did move/you wished so bad it would take you,” Bleker sings, relating the last phone call they had.
In the second verse, the narrator gets involved with another person who claims to dabble in the supernatural, although this one seems less legitimate than the girl of astral light. A girl named Amy claims to be a “healer,” but when the narrator goes on some new age retreat with her the most she does is tell her to smoke more weed. The narrator concedes that she’s probably right, but dismisses the “healer” claims: “her mom pays her rent.” It’s both funny and a reminder of how special the titular girl is in her life.
“She’s Pure Astral Light” doesn’t have the kind of delicate, gossamer production one might expect from a song with that name. Instead, it’s a dreamy strain of indie rock, with sproingy post-punk bass and surges of shoegaze guitars in the chorus. Bleker’s voice, too, is quite strong, with a plaintive rasp not unlike Frances Quinlan’s. It all helps ground this song, helping it feel real and investing it with the right emotional stakes. “You can go if you want to/you can go/no one will stop you,” Bleker calls out in the chorus, and even beings of pure astral light might be touched.
