Arrows of Athena’s sophomore album ‘Daydreaming’ is out now via Belhaven Records, and the story behind its standout single “Comets” is one of the more unexpected in recent alt-rock memory. The Boston cinematic duo of Jac-Lyn Gibson and Scott Lerner built the track around the real-life story of Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin, the French widow who took over her husband’s wine business in the early 1800s, defied every patriarchal constraint of her era, and eventually became Madame Clicquot, the Grande Dame of Champagne. Veuve Clicquot is still consumed around the world today.
Gibson discovered the story through the 2023 drama Widow Clicquot and immediately went deep. “As soon as I finished the movie I read her biography rather quickly and then got to work in the studio,” she says. The specific detail that anchors the song: comets crashed into the vineyard one evening, everyone was convinced the grapes were ruined, and Ponsardin alone believed it would improve the flavor. She was right. “The story is fascinating and a true testament of what women can overcome in times of despair,” Gibson adds.
For a duo named after the goddess of female strength and wisdom, the fit is exact. Lerner laid down a cascade of thunderous dance beats and thrashing riffs as the foundation, Gibson shaped the narrative over the top, and the result is one of the most expansive tracks in their catalog, pulsating and star-gazing with the 90s-coded electronic alt-rock energy that has drawn comparisons to Garbage and Republica since their debut.
‘Daydreaming’ marks a deliberate shift in creative territory from their 2024 debut ‘The Ghost Archives,’ which centered on death and personal loss. The new record explores storytelling across happier emotional terrain, capturing two adults navigating families, careers, and a desire to honor the peaceful and positive. “Now that we got through that chapter of pain, we are ready to tell a different story,” Gibson says. There are more guitars on this one overall, though the synths and dance beats that define the Arrows of Athena sound remain fully intact.
‘Daydreaming’ is out now via Belhaven Records.