‘Without You Here‘ is a good old alternative rock song about longing for your loved one by the band Starboard to Sunset. They are based in Island Heights, New Jersey, and Tom Damiano is the band’s singer, guitarist and songwriter, alongside Bryan Lozano on bass, and Rufus Pollard on drums.
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According to the band, “Without You Here is a song about the emptiness that comes with losing someone close to you”. Another theme of the song is that as time passes, the memories of them might begin to fade. It reminds me of one of my favourite records, Opeth’s My Arms, Your Hearse, where a dead man returns as a ghost and watches his grieving lover gradually move on with her life. His inability to accept being forgotten eventually turns his grief into something much darker, as he tries to bring her into death with him. Well, clearly, Tom doesn’t intend to take it quite that far with this one. Both works deal with the terrifying possibility that time will erase the relationship from the surviving person’s life. But Starboard to Sunset treats that fear as grief and resignation, whereas Åkerfeldt turns it into a spectacularly unhealthy supernatural relationship.
Interesting comparisons aside, Starboard to Sunset’s catalogue goes back to the self-titled 2023 EP, followed by the album Blackbeard (2024) and the EP Every Day (2025). The song continues on some of the territory they’ve covered such as change, uncertainty, belonging, resilience and relationships. The songwriting here can be said to be quire intimate, raw, and direct. The song is also revisited acoustically, appearing alongside “Still It Stands” and “Looking Glass” on Dockside Acoustic, a 2026 collection that strips back the band’s fuller arrangements to foreground songwriting and melody.
This is one song to keep spinning for sure, if you love your alternative rock, some tasty rhythm guitars and are missing your loved one.
You can follow Starboard to Sunset on Instagram and check their website as well.
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