Cosmopaark and Tapeworms find common ground on collaborative single “Shooting Star”

For Cosmopaark, formed by guitarist/vocalist Clément Pelofy, drummer Baptiste Sauvion, and bassist Julie Wafflart, “Shooting Star” showcases the trio stretching beyond their signature shoegaze sound we’ve come to hear from the band since 2018. Originally intended for a future album, the track shifted after inviting dreamy synth-pop trio Tapeworms into the creative process, opening the door to a new re-working of the song.

“I think this track really stands apart from the rest of our discography,” front-person Clément explains. “We didn’t want to compromise too much just to make it fit into a narrative that was already working well. It was important to us that Tapeworms could express themselves as freely as possible in the song.”

The result feels like a natural blend of two bands who have spent time orbiting one another through France’s music scene. Having first crossed paths through shared collaborators at Howlin’ Banana Records, the label home of Cosmopaark, it was an obvious next step to team up. “We were already moving towards a more electronic sound, and we really love what Tapeworms do, so it felt like a very natural fit,” Clément reflects. “They’re amazing – the world needs to know about them.”

For French outfit Tapeworms, consisting of vocalist Margot Magnière and siblings Théo and Elliott Poyer, whose acclaimed album Grand Voyage embraced shimmering electronics and pop-leaning production, “Shooting Star” offered a chance to reconnect back to their guitar-driven instincts while applying new techniques they’ve learned along the way.

“It was the very first time another entity offered us to collaborate on a song,” Tapeworms shares. “As Cosmopaark and Tapeworms have some common roots and inspirations, we thought it was interesting to lean back on those and to see where our vision would decipher. Where it is okay to push for your ideas and when it’s better to give room for someone else’s.”

That sense of mutual admiration is reflected in the music itself. Layers of washed-out guitars dissolve into glitchy electronics, ethereal vocals resonate over the mix, and synth textures create a dreamlike landscape where both bands’ distinct approaches coexist rather than compete. Cosmopaark’s recent fascination with adventurous production was fuelled by artists such as feeble little horse, Sword II, and Snuggle, inspiring the band to push beyond the confines of ‘90s shoegaze without abandoning its emotional core.

Rather than simply adding guest vocals, Tapeworms approached the track as producers would. Inspired by the melancholic atmosphere of Paranoid Park, the experimental production of Oli XL, and the emotional vulnerability of grunge textures from yeule’s softscars, they initially transformed Cosmopaark’s demo into what Tapeworms describe as “something new and very Frankenstein-ish,” chopping up stems and rearranging fragments before the two bands refined it into its final form. “The first version we did was basically a remix of the demo Cosmopaark sent us,” Tapeworms explains.

Beneath its dream-like exterior, “Shooting Star” leans into the fantasy of chasing fulfillment through idealized futures. “Sometimes we convince ourselves that a specific situation will solve all our problems,” Clément explains. “Then you achieve it, and if you’re still not feeling great, you find another thing to chase. I think it can become a bit of a trap sometimes.”

While “Shooting Star” remains a standalone release ahead of Cosmopaark’s next album, it signals an exciting willingness from both bands to dissolve the limitations of genre that sometimes feel imposed on artists and to embrace an adventurous electronic production approach without losing sight of their love of shoegaze that first brought them together.