B-Side Guys

The vast expanse between desire and fulfillment has rarely been captured with such delicate precision as in Desert Sparrow’s latest single, “With You.” Released just two weeks ago, this atmospheric meditation marries the cinematic sensibilities of a midnight desert landscape with the weightless float of dream pop, creating something that feels both vast and intimate.

Los Angeles-based Desert Sparrow—born from an unlikely Coachella encounter between Australian vocalist Kylie Krystal and Californian guitarist Dave Carreno—has evolved into a full four-piece outfit capable of weaving rich emotional tapestries. The expanded lineup, completed in 2023 with drummer Jarred Ratley and multi-instrumentalist Josh Adams, brings textural depth that allows “With You” to hover in a carefully constructed liminal space.

The track’s production creates a nocturnal dreamscape where Krystal’s vocals drift through reverb-drenched instrumentation. When she sings “Falling into the night sky/I fall asleep and hope that’ll you come by,” her voice floats above the mix, embodying the very suspension she describes. This celestial imagery continues with “There’s constellations lined up in my head,” connecting interior emotional landscapes with the cosmic vastness that has long characterized Desert Sparrow’s musical universe.

Most affecting is the repetition that anchors the chorus—”With you” becomes a mantra, each iteration slightly different in its emotional weight. When Krystal sings “Memories orbit round my mind/My head my heart they won’t stop holding tight,” the circular nature of longing is reflected both lyrically and melodically, the song’s structure mirroring its thematic obsession.

The musical DNA of their influences—the haunting qualities of Mazzy Star, the harmonic sensibilities of Fleetwood Mac, the pristine arrangements of Tennis—appears throughout without overwhelming Desert Sparrow’s distinctive voice. The band has metabolized these references into something recognizably their own, particularly in how they balance emotional vulnerability with compositional restraint.

“With You” represents the fulfillment of Desert Sparrow’s promise: crafting music that feels simultaneously rooted in physical place (the expansive landscapes of the American West) and completely untethered from earthly constraints. In their hands, longing becomes not just an emotion but a place to dwell—a constellation indeed, distant yet perpetually illuminating the darkness.