Ten more songs you must hear! BED HEDZ - Love Is Calling Though its club sound and production effects are pretty run of the mill for the genre it's all wrapped up in a catchy and uplifting way with some perky energy through its run time. Nice! (7/10) Frequency Cowboy - Are You Out There? With hints of the Young Knives, this is arguably their best single release out of a clutch of good 'uns, it's poppy, catchy chorus really hitting home. (7.5/10)
Jessie Ware - Alone
'Alone' is a sweet and touching ballad and though the lyrics may wander around familiar territory the gentle and solid production and Ware's beautifully sung vocals will win you over. (7/10) Lauran Hibberd - ELIZA A little like a cross between Lily Allen and Kate Nash this is a jaunty uplifting folky indie track with a hooky spelt-out chorus and a dramatic drum beat that powers it forward. Neat. (7/10) SANDS - Let's Run With a bouncy indie riff leading into its darkly produced chorus, this has a strong walking rhythm that gives it a throwback-sounding retro sound that works well. (7/10) The Scruff - Her
'Her' is a gentle, thought-provoking ballad, that is more about the lyrics than the stripped-back vocals, but it's a joyous, introspective, if slightly melancholic number, though it does burst nicely into something more energetic as the emotion builds up (7/10) Starsailor - Take a Little Time
Back with their first new album in a while, Starsailor return with this catchy slice of indie with a delightfully warming production style and catchy chorus. Welcome back! (7/10) STRØM - Shay-Ling
'Shay-Long' is a gentle, ethereal, atmospheric number that mixes in a range of elements and styles into a heady and enjoyable mixture of soundscapes. (6.5/10) Tears For Fears - I Love You But I'm Lost
Back with a new album this is a strong return from the band with a quite timely November-based reference. A little more indie and a lot more upbeat than I expected the catchy background vocals and memorable chorus work well. (7/10) Tokio Myers - Bloodstream
Though the shift 90 seconds in is quite abrupt, this delightfully composed instrumental track recovers to form a dramatic, emotive, filmic orchestral score. (6.5/10)
Starsailor
are back with a brand new album called ‘All This Life’ and from it a new single
‘Take A Little Time’. We spoke to lead singer James as he and the band prepared
for the Leeds date of their latest tour, and began by asking him what people
could expect from their live show.
Just
a good show; a few of the songs from our new record ‘All This Life’ and a few
of the old tunes as well!
How has the tour been going
so far?
It’s
being great. We’re only four gigs in now so it’s early days but it’s been
brilliant so far; I’m really enjoying it.
Any personal highlights so
far?
I
think the last show we did in Bristol was really good; that was probably the best
one so far.
You’re back with a new
single called ‘Take A Little Time’; what is the inspiration behind the single?
I
guess it’s about having a bit of time to yourself. Obviously there’s a lot of
demands on your time and your attention so it’s important to take a deep breath
and do things for yourself as well as other people and to please other people,
taking stock of your life and relaxing for a while.
Musically how does it fit
with your older material and the other songs on the album?
It’s
a bit of a departure. It’s quite an upbeat, funky little number. It’s a bit
different to the likes of ‘Alcoholic’ or ‘Blood’ off this album. It’s a more
emotional moment. It’s one of the lighter moments on the album.
Is there a video on the way
for the release?
Not
that I know of the moment. We did a video for ‘All This Life’ and I think in
this day and age there’s so little money in the music industry. We used to do a
video for all the singles, and now it’s all lyric videos and keeping it simple!
Obviously if it becomes a massive hit there might be some budget to do it, but
at the moment we’ll just stick to the tune!
Your new album is ‘All This
Life’. What’s the journey been like in recording that?
We
did it down the road in Halifax with Richard McNamara who’s making a name for himself
now as a producer. He’s got a residential studio as well so we all stayed down
there which made it a good experience.
Was there a concept behind
the album when you started to theme the tracks?
[There
wasn’t] a particular concept. A lot of the lyrics were informed by my recent
experiences and the ups and down of life that I was going through at the time.
Is it important to you as a
singer-songwriter to put those personal moments into your music?
Yes,
I think so. It’s difficult, obviously, when you’re talking about other people
and the experiences you’ve had. It can only be your point of view so you have
to make sure it’s not too harsh! I think it’s important as it’s cathartic writing
songs, as you work through issues.
You’ve just celebrated
sixteen years this month since the release of your debut album; what’s it like
reflecting back on that album?
We
certainly reminisced. It’s been a mad few years since we released that and you
go through a period where the first album is really big and you try to move as
far away from that as you possibly can as you try to prove that you’re more
than just a one record band, but after all these years when going back to it
that all these years later people still are fond of that record and it’s
informed some big moments in people’s lives.
Did the break before you
came back with your greatest hits rejuvenate you as a band?
Yes,
definitely. I find the whole process, though a lot of it’s extremely enjoyable,
like the touring aspect particularly – I really enjoy touring. But there’s
certain things like pouring out blood, sweat and tears into a record and then
it all hinges on one week, whether it gets on the radio [and] whether it sells
anything. I find that whole process emotionally draining. I’m also working on
different musical projects so the band isn’t the be-all and end-all, which you
would think makes it less important, but that adds to the creativity and takes
the weight of your shoulders, and it becomes more about enjoying music and four
mates getting together and coming out with the best music we can really.
What is it about the live
experience that you most enjoy?
I
think it’s the crowd reaction. You know from the first song when you go on
stage, if the crowd gives you a good reception then you know you’re in for a
great night. Meeting people, seeing different cities, even for the second,
third, fourth time it’s good to catch up with old mates!
What’s it been like
revisiting your older material – have you done any tweaks to them?
We
have to keep fairly faithful to the original versions, though ‘Good Souls’ and ‘Tell
Me It’s Not Over’ take on a new life when we play them live, and they’re quite
a bit longer than they are on the records as we like to go for it at the end.
But generally the rest of the songs remain pretty faithful as people come to
sing along and they know the songs better than us so if we take them off on a
tangent we’ll get more complaints than people say they’re glad we’ve changed it
up a bit.
What’s your favourite song
off the album to play live?
‘FIA’!
I love playing that. I just think it’s one of the best things we’ve done in a
long time. It’s got quite a unique sound to it and I’m all for the sentiment of
it and everything!
Finally if you had a motto
from your new album would it be ‘Listen To Your Heart’, ‘Take A Little Time’ or
‘Fuck It All’?
All
of them! I suppose ‘Listen To Your Heart’ is the most resonate. There are times
when ‘Fuck It All’ is relevant and apt and time’s where it isn’t and you need
to think about things for a bit, but ‘Listen To Your Heart’ always works at
whatever level, so that’s where you should take your guidance really!
Starsailor
– Live at Leeds
Starsailor
certainly delivered the goods in their 95-minute eighteen-track set that
covered all their biggest hits and a selection of songs from their new album.
Personal highlights for me including a brilliant energetic cover of ‘Tell Me It’s
Not Over’ near the end of the main set, including a smooth interpolation with
MGMT’s ‘Kids’, kicking off a strong concluding triplet that included personal favourites
‘Four to the Floor’ and ‘Silence Is Easy’. Mixing in songs from all the albums,
even as someone not hugely familiar with the tracks outside of their big hits,
it was a powerful and fun show with the band on strong form. Supported by two
great acts this was a strong and well received show that packed out the Leeds
Beckett venue.
