As has been the case for more than a decade, my mind drifts to days long past this time of year and not, as is the norm, to the days that soon may be. The Portuguese concept of saudade, a nostalgia-soaked wistfulness, describes it well, I think. I recall, however vague, the Christmases of my earliest years—not the gifts, though that Billy Blastoff set in ’69 was among the best, but the people who populated them. The great aunts. The great uncle. The grandparents, including crazy Maebeth. My mom and dad. It’s easy to lose one’s self in such flashback serenades, is it not? But, ultimately, looking back vs. looking forward, turning around vs. driving on, are faulty metaphors. Life is not a series of Let’s Make a Deal-type either/or scenarios. We can miss what was and still move forward.
It’s said that grief—which can be triggered by most anything, including a job loss, a romantic breakup, and a loved one’s death—contains five stages: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. The last is not the end, however. In some respects, grieving is akin to yanking a loose string on the braided cord that is life; it doesn’t unravel the rope in most instances, just leaves it a little more frayed. And if that rope was a ladder made from a fair maiden’s’ hair? Well, that image ably sums up Violette Rain’s infectious debut album, Charting the Stars in Her Eyes.
Over the course of 2025, she released the tracks one per month, with the songs—wondrous all—delving into the magical realms of fairytales and Arthurian myth. The journey culminates on Friday, December 5, with “Little Heart Locket,” a touching tribute to her late grandmother; it strips away Rain’s fantastical musings to lay bare her heart. The press kit quotes her as explaining, “I wanted to express grief through the shifting seasons because I’ve found it to be cyclical rather than linear. Each song aligns with a month of the year, mirroring where my own grief rests as the seasons change. Every track opens a door to a different world—to moonlit castles, mermaid lagoons, glamorous old movies, haunted cemeteries… My adventure through these worlds has been my quest for the Holy Grail, my Odyssey, my journey to find magic in the world after loss. Charting the Stars in Her Eyes is a gaze both upward and into the past—searching for our loved ones in every starlit night.”
Rain’s whimsy is as infectious as her vocals, which routinely frolic amongst the stars, while the songs themselves are contagious confections that linger in the subconscious. As I said when I spotlighted “Courtly Love” in February, she reminds me of Kate Bush—and, now that I think about it, Tori Amos, too. She explores atypical topics via sweeping visages all but the hard-hearted will enjoy, in other words.
Although available in piecemeal form sans “Little Heart Locket,” Charting the Stars in Her Eyes will be released in full this Friday, December 5th. (She also a Bandcamp page.)
The Old Grey Cat 