Starsailor are an English post-Britpop band, formed in 2000. Since their formation the band has included guitarist and vocalist James Walsh, drummer Ben Byrne, bassist James Stelfox and keyboardist Barry Westhead. They are best known for their 2003 single "Silence Is Easy", which reached number 9 in the UK, and "Four to the Floor", which reached number one in France as well as the top five in Australia.
The band has released five studio albums, and have scored ten Top 40 hit singles in the UK. Their first album Love Is Here was released in 2001, followed by Silence Is Easy (2003) and On the Outside (2005). After the release of its fourth album All the Plans (2009), the band entered into extended hiatus until 2014, during which its members were involved in individual projects.
Starsailor announced their reunion on 23 May 2014 and began performing worldwide. Good Souls: The Greatest Hits was released in September 2015, and featured two new songs. A fifth studio album All This Life was released in 2017.
History
Formation, signed by EMI (1999–2000)
Bassist James Stelfox and drummer Ben Byrne had been playing together in Warrington, Cheshire for a number of years. The band members met whilst studying a Music course at Wigan and Leigh College. When their regular singer fell ill, they recruited young Chorley singer and songwriter James Walsh from a school choir.
The band, then named Waterface, had tried a number of guitarists before they asked long-time friend Barry Westhead to join the band in 2000 on keyboards. He had been teaching judo and playing organ for a church near his home town. His arrival has been heralded as the most significant event in the band's formation. Walsh also took up the guitar, following frustration over not finding a musician right for the group. The band started to build up a reputation, and their name changed to Starsailor after the 1970 album Starsailor by Tim Buckley.
A journalist from NME saw a gig in 2000 and gave the band a glowing review. "One live encounter was enough to convince many sceptics that here was a band who were genuinely special, blessed with a singer whose voice thrummed like an emotional telegraph wire, that swerved the pitfalls of indie melancholia and were clearly in love with rock 'n' roll and all its possibilities." Their performance at the Glastonbury Festival added to the band's reputation and led to a bidding war amongst UK record companies.
A relative of one band member worked for EMI, and the label then signed them in 2000. In 2008, in a re-organisation, Starsailor were moved to Virgin Records, a division of EMI.[1]
"Fever", the band's first single, was released in early 2001. The song, and its two B-Sides "Love Is Here" and "Coming Down" were cut from a demo recording session in mid-2000. All three tracks went on to feature on Starsailor's first album Love Is Here, but were re-recorded.
In March 2001 the band sold out its first UK Tour, which consisted of eleven dates in England. Their second single, "Good Souls", was released in April and featured a cover of Van Morrison's "The Way Young Lovers Do" as a B-Side. During this period, the band were recording their debut album in Rockfield Studios, Wales. By this time, the band were already previewing many of the album's tracks in their concerts, most notably "Poor Misguided Fool", "Lullaby" and "Way To Fall", which would appear as the ending theme of the video game Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater in 2004. An acoustic version of "Alcoholic" appeared on a promotional CD for NME magazine earlier in 2001. The original release date for the album was August 2001.
Further live dates came supporting the Manic Street Preachers in Glasgow, as well as Doves on their North American tour. The band also marked their first festival appearances, playing at events such as V Festival[2] and Germany's Rock im Park. "Alcoholic" appeared as the third single to be taken off their debut album, and its number ten chart position remains the band's second highest placing to date. The single version was actually an extended version of the album track.
Their album Love Is Here reached number 2 in the UK album charts in October 2001, after receiving great critical acclaim. Combining a mix of acoustic guitar and Walsh's vocals, critics said the songs leave the "hairs on the back of your neck standing."[citation needed]
The year ended with the band winning the "Brightest New Hope" award at the NME Awards, and the release of their fourth single, "Lullaby", which reached number thirty-six. Some fans complained about the difficulty in obtaining copies of the single.
Peter Kay joined the band on stage at their 2002 Christmas Concert held in Warrington's Parr Hall.
James Walsh
Silence Is Easy (2002–2005)
For their second album, Silence Is Easy, which was recorded in Los Angeles, Starsailor teamed up with Phil Spector (in what ended up being his final production work before his conviction of murder in 2009 and his death in 2021). The collaboration came about following Spector's daughter Nicole attending one of the band's American concerts in the winter of 2002. Spector was reported to have been fascinated by "Lullaby", the band's fourth single. After meeting the producer, the band agreed to work with him on their second album. However, the collaboration was short-lived; sessions at London's Abbey Road proved difficult. Spector is said to have proved difficult to work with. Only two tracks made the band's second album: the title track, "Silence Is Easy", and "White Dove".
The band co-produced seven of the other tracks with Danton Supple and former The Stone Roses and Radiohead producer John Leckie was brought in to oversee the recording of "Shark Food".
The first single was "Silence Is Easy", which made the Top Ten (No. 9, the band's highest placing). The album spawned just three singles; the second of which, "Born Again" had evolved from a B-side to "Poor Misguided Fool", released in early 2002. The song was re-recorded for the album, and cut down for a radio edit. "Four to the Floor", which was remixed by Thin White Duke, became a popular club hit. Walsh wanted the track to become the band's "I Am the Resurrection", something to be played in "indie discos everywhere".
The album charted well, but sales were sluggish in comparison to the band's first album. The release dropped out of the Top 40 soon thereafter.
A full UK tour began in autumn 2003 shortly after the release of the album, culminating at London's Brixton Academy. The show featured the only performance before their American tour in 2006 of "Restless Heart", the closing track on the Silence Is Easy album. Mark Collins, from The Charlatans joined Starsailor for all dates between August 2003 to December 2004, playing additional and lead guitar.
On the Outside, return to form (2005–2007)
EMI allowed the band plenty of time to record their follow-up album; having targeted producer Rob Schnapf to produce it, the group relocated to Los Angeles to record. Five possible titles appeared; ("Faith, Hope, Love"/"Here I Go"/"Ashes" or "In the Crossfire"/"I Do Not Know"/"Counterfeit Life"), but the band settled for On the Outside, a statement of their position in the music industry. The sound was different from the previous two releases; it was far heavier than its predecessors. Starsailor had always received praise for their live sound, but the releases seemed "puny" in comparison, admitted Stelfox. The recording was all done to tape, and the band did not use editing software such as Pro Tools to "perfect" the recording. Byrne later remarked that his drum track on "White Light" took a long time to nail; highlighting the band's desire to make the record they were truly happy with.
Starsailor released their third album, On the Outside, in the UK on 17 October 2005 from which the first single from the album, "In the Crossfire" was taken. It was released by Artists Addiction Records in the USA on 22 August. Critics raved about the release, with many citing it as a return to form. Despite this, promotional appearances including a short live set and signing at London's HMV Oxford Street did not aid sales – the album charted at number 13.
Since September 2005, Richard Warren joined the band when playing live, aiding Walsh with additional guitar, vocals and also harmonica parts. Again, the band's UK tour ended at Brixton Academy. Following that, the band toured Europe, playing several dates in France, where "Four to the Floor" was a number one hit in 2004. Following the Paris concert on 3 April, Walsh and Warren were the DJ's at the after-show party.
The album has spawned three singles; "This Time" and "Keep Us Together" followed "In The Crossfire". Despite promoting the single with appearances in London and Leeds, "Keep Us Together" was the first single not to reach the UK Top 40. The promotional video for "This Time" appears to be a cultural reference to the film Run Lola Run, but may not be intentional.
Starsailor played numerous festivals in the Summer of 2006; most notably "Hyde Park Calling" on 1 July 2006, alongside Roger Waters, and the V Festival, which is held in Stafford and Chelmsford. They also supported the Rolling Stones on their "Bigger Bang" Tour in Munich, Hamburg in 2006 and again in Frankfurt, Paris and Lyon in 2007.
In the autumn of 2006, Starsailor toured North America, playing both headlining shows and supporting James Blunt, in January 2007 they undertook their first trip to Russia, playing in the B2 Club of Moscow. According to the band's official website[citation needed]Barry Westhead's partner Kelly gave birth to a baby boy on 12 April 2007. The baby was named Joseph. Bass player James Stelfox became a father again in 2008, when his partner gave birth to a girl, named Ella, in November while the rest of the band were doing their first trip to Korea.
Starsailor was named the replacement for Amy Winehouse as the support act for The Rolling Stones on the German leg of their tour. They were opening for the rock legends for the first time in Hamburg. Front man James Walsh told BBC 6 Music: "We heard on Sunday evening, our agent gave us a frantic call, and asked what we were doing this week, fortunately we had a week off!"
All the Plans, beginning of hiatus (2007–2009)
In 2007, Starsailor began recording demos for the follow-up to 2005's On the Outside.
Starsailor started to play in various gigs during the months recording their fourth album. James Walsh also played at several events in 2007, like the SXSW festival in Texas in March 2007, and an acoustic show in London on 12 March. The show is notable for not having a set list; rarities such as the hardly played "Restless Heart" was played, due to a request from the front row. In addition to this he played the song "Tell Me It's Not Over", the track from the work-in-progress fourth album (early arrivals saw Walsh sound check half the song).
Walsh and Stelfox played an unplugged set on 13 April 2007 in Switzerland with Mark Collins of The Charlatans.
Further support in Europe for The Rolling Stones took place in mid-June; these were late additions, and fitted in with the band's festival schedule. The previous concert before the Stones' support was in Den Haag, the Netherlands; the band debuted the first full-band version of "Tell Me It's Not Over". Starsailor had embarked on a tour of the UK during October 2007 in support of Fairtrade. They have debuted a number of new songs during the tour as "Boy in Waiting" and "All the Plans". The lyrics for "Tell Me It's Not Over" had changed considerably since the first time they had sung it. Their first travel to Latin America was confirmed after a long period of speculation. Starsailor supported The Killers in November 2007 on their dates in Argentina and Chile. Starsailor played on June at the Isle of Wight Festival on the last day, with The Police headlining on that date. They also performed at Hard Rock Calling in Hyde Park the same month with The Police as headliners. They also confirmed that they would play at "Rockin" Park' in the Netherlands on Saturday 28 June, on the third day of the 2008 Cactus Festival at Minnewaterpark, Brugge, Belgium on Saturday 12 July, and the Open Air Gampel Festival in Switzerland on Saturday 16 August.
On 20 March 2008, front man James posted on the official Starsailor forum announcing the album had been completed.[3]
On 16 October 2008 it was officially confirmed that the new album would be called All the Plans and was to be released in March 2009.[4] On 3 December, the Boy in Waiting EP was released as a free digital download for those who pre-order the deluxe edition of All the Plans.[5][bettersourceneeded] It contained three tracks that did not make the album.
The album debuted at Number 26 in the UK Album Charts on 14 March 2009, while "Tell Me It's Not Over" spent one week in the UK Singles Chart, reaching No.73, and peaking at No.5 in the Belgian Charts, becoming Starsailor's most successful single in that country.
On 26 April 2009, the band performed at The Tavern pub in Wigan, as part of Channel 4 television's "Grassroot Gigs" series. They had never played a concert in the town before, and have played there only once since then.
Lead singer, James Walsh began to work on a solo project at the end of 2009. On 13 November 2009 it was officially announced by The Lancashire Evening Post that Starsailor was on hold and that James Walsh was concentrating on his solo career.[6]
Reunion, touring and Greatest Hits album (2014–2015)
Starsailor have reformed, playing support slots at Summer in the City festival in 10 and 11 July at Castlefield Bowl, headlined by Pixies and James. Starsailor performed on Rock Zottegem festival in Belgium on 14 July 2014. On 3 August 2014 the band performed at the Pentaport Rock Festival held in Incheon, South Korea. Their support tour continued in November 2014, supporting them in England at venues like Parr Hall, National Indoor Arena and Royal Albert Hall.[7] They returned to the stage in June 2015, when they co-headlined several concerts with Embrace in the USA.[8]
Starsailor's first greatest hits album, called Good Souls: The Greatest Hits, was released on 18 September 2015. The album contained 19 tracks, including all of band's singles to date and two brand new songs "Give Up the Ghost" and "Hold on", recorded with producer Harry Rutherford.[9]
Starsailor played a second gig in Wigan in 2016, supported by a local band who shared the same management agency.
All This Life (2017–present)
In 2017, the band released "Listen To Your Heart", their first release in almost two years. Their fifth album, All This Life, was released on 1 September 2017 through the band's new record label, Cooking Vinyl. Flick of the Finger gave the album an overwhelmingly positive 5 star review, with the publication praising the song "Sunday Best", saying that 'the album is best summarised by this one melancholic and emotional track.'[10] The album entered the UK album chart at No. 23.
In December 2021, the band were to release an expanded 20th anniversary edition of their album Love Is Here, as well as going out on tour to support it. The release was delayed until January 2022 due to pressing delays of the vinyl edition. Due to a partial cancelation due to COVID-19, the band were eventually able to complete their delayed tour in September 2022, and gave a live debut to a new song recorded earlier in the year entitled Heavyweight.
October 2023 saw the band announce details of their sixth studio album, entitled Where The Wild Things Grow, with a release date of March 2024. A video for the title track was also released at the same time. In November 2023, Starsailor released a 20th anniversary of their album Silence Is Easy alongside a tour to promote the re-issue.
Charity
The band played the London Astoria on 4 and 8 February 2002. The first date was a concert in aid of Warchild, and also included Travis and Ryan Adams on the bill. The 8th saw the debut of "Born Again", which would eventually be released as a single. The concert is notable since the band were joined on stage by two backing singers and a cellist. James Walsh told NME.COM after the show that he thought the gig was "amazing, something really special" while bassist James Stelfox said it was "one of the greatest ever." This flirtation with these additional voices and a cello only lasted a brief period of time.
On 19 September 2008 Starsailor performed in the second edition of the "Stars of Europe" concert at Brussels in support of UNICEF, where they covered U2's single "All I Want Is You"[11]
On 20 May 2009, the band was named Hard Rock's "Philanthropic Artist of the Year" in recognition of the work they'd done in support of the Caron Keating Foundation, the AECC of Barcelona and Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy, as well as having contributed an exclusive cover of Graham Nash's "Military Madness" to the World Hunger Year Serve3 charity album.[12][bettersourceneeded]
The Eagles are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1971. With five number-one singles and six number-one albums, six Grammy Awards and five American Music Awards, the Eagles were one of the most successful musical acts of the 1970s in North America and are one of the world's best-selling bands, having sold more than 200million records worldwide, including 100million sold in the US alone. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998 and were ranked number 75 on Rolling Stone's 2004 list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". Founding members Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Bernie Leadon, and Randy Meisner were recruited by Linda Ronstadt as band members, some touring with her, and all playing on her third solo album, before venturing out on their own on David Geffen's new Asylum Records label.
Stereophonics are a Welsh rock band formed in 1992 in the village of Cwmaman in the Cynon Valley, Wales. The band consists of Kelly Jones, Richard Jones, Adam Zindani, Jamie Morrison and touring member Tony Kirkham (keyboards). The group previously included Stuart Cable (1992–2003) and then Javier Weyler (2004–2012) on drums. Stereophonics have released twelve studio albums, including eight UK number one albums. A successful compilation album, Decade in the Sun, was released in November 2008 and charted at number two on the UK Album Chart.
Simple Minds are a Scottish rock band formed in Glasgow in 1977. They have released a string of hit singles, becoming best known internationally for "Don't You " (1985), which topped the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. Other commercially successful singles include "Promised You a Miracle" (1982), "Glittering Prize" (1982), "Someone Somewhere in Summertime" (1982), "Waterfront" (1983), "Alive and Kicking" (1985), "Sanctify Yourself" (1986), "Let There Be Love" (1991), "See the Lights" (1991) as well as the UK number one single "Belfast Child" (1989).
Joseph Fidler Walsh is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. Best known as a member of the rock band Eagles, his five-decade career has also included solo work and stints in two other successful rock bands: James Gang and Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band. He was also part of the New Zealand band Herbs. In the 1990s, he was a member of the short-lived supergroup the Best.
Travis are a Scottish rock band formed in Glasgow in 1990, composed of Fran Healy, Dougie Payne, Andy Dunlop and Neil Primrose. The band's name comes from the character Travis Henderson from the film Paris, Texas (1984).
Turin Brakes are an English band, comprising original duo of Olly Knights and Gale Paridjanian, and long-term collaborators Rob Allum and Eddie Myer. They had a UK top 5 hit in 2003 with their song "Painkiller ". Since starting out in 1999, the band have sold around one million records worldwide. They are currently signed to Cooking Vinyl.
Keane are an English alternative rock band from Battle, East Sussex, formed in 1995. They met while at Tonbridge School together. The band currently comprises Tom Chaplin, Tim Rice-Oxley, Richard Hughes, and Jesse Quin. Their original line-up included founder and guitarist Dominic Scott, who left in 2001.
Gun are a Scottish hard rock band from Glasgow. The band currently consists of brothers Dante Gizzi and Giuliano "Jools" Gizzi (guitar), along with Paul McManus (drums), Andy Carr (bass) and Davie Aitken (guitar). Starting in 1989 with Taking on the World, Gun have released seven studio albums, three of which have made the UK Top 20, and had eight UK Top 40 hit singles. The most successful of these was a cover of Cameo's "Word Up!", which reached the top 10 in 1994.
Silence Is Easy is the second studio album by English indie rock group Starsailor, released in September 2003 on EMI Records. The album cover is loosely based on Echo & the Bunnymen's Heaven Up Here. The song "Some of Us" was featured in an episode of Bones titled "A Boy in a Bush" and in the closing credits of the Belgian film The Memory of a Killer. The album contains some of the last productions by Phil Spector before his murder conviction and imprisonment in 2009, and before his death in 2021. The album sold 54,296 copies in its opening week of release, charting at No. 2 on the UK Albums Chart. It was certified gold in the UK in 2003.
Love Is Here is the debut studio album by rock band Starsailor, released on 8 October 2001 by Chrysalis Records. After finalising their line-up, a positive review from NME started a bidding war between record labels that eventually saw the band sign to EMI. Following the making of some demos, "Fever" and "Good Souls" were released as singles on 4 February 2001 and 23 April 2001, respectively. The band recorded their debut album at Rockfield Studios with producer Steve Osborne over the course of six weeks. Love Is Here features acoustic guitars accompanied by gentle piano chords, earning it comparisons to the albums Parachutes (2000) by Coldplay, and The Invisible Band (2001) by Travis.
The Alarm are a Welsh rock band that formed in Rhyl, Wales, in 1981. Initially formed as a punk band, the Toilets, in 1977, under lead vocalist Mike Peters, the band soon embraced arena rock and included marked influences from Welsh language and culture. By opening for acts such as U2 and Bob Dylan, they became a popular new wave pop band of the 1980s.
James Milne Walsh is an English singer, songwriter, guitarist, pianist and frontman of the band Starsailor. Walsh released his first solo studio album, Lullaby, in 2012. He released his fourth and fifth albums, both in 2021. Including his work with Starsailor, he has sold over three million albums globally.
"Silence Is Easy" is the first single from the album of the same name by British pop band Starsailor. The song reached number nine on the UK Singles Chart, which is the band's highest position on the UK chart. The song also reached number 40 in Ireland and number 70 in the Netherlands. It was one of two songs on the album that was produced by Phil Spector.
All the Plans is Starsailor's fourth studio album. It was announced on 16 October 2008 and was released on 9 March 2009. The album was released via iTunes in the US on 28 April 2009.
"Tell Me It's Not Over" is the first single released from the 2009 album, All the Plans by the English alternative rock band, Starsailor. Its release date was announced on 18 October 2008 on their official website and later via YouTube by the lead singer James Walsh and Ben Byrne in their official Channel. It peaked # 73 in the UK Single Charts and #5 in the Belgium Charts making Tell Me It's Not Over their most successful single in Belgium.
Deaf Havana are an English alternative rock band from Hunstanton and King's Lynn, Norfolk, England. The band was formed in 2005 at the King's Lynn campus of The College of West Anglia.
"All the Plans" is a song by the English alternative rock band, Starsailor. The song was officially announced as the second single of Starsailor's album of the same title on 16 April 2009 and was released on 22 June 2009. It was initially known as "All the plans we made".
As It Is were a British-American rock band based in Brighton, England. The band was formed in 2012, and signed to Fearless Records in 2014. The group at the time of departure consisted of lead vocalist Patty Walters and lead guitarist Ronnie Ish.
Good Souls: The Greatest Hits is the first greatest hits album by UK indie rock band Starsailor, released on 18 September 2015. The album contains hits from between Love Is Here (2001) and All the Plans (2009) and two new tracks: "Give Up the Ghost" and "Hold On".
All This Life is the fifth studio album by English rock band Starsailor. It was released on 1 September 2017. It is the first studio album released by the band since 2009's All The Plans. It was produced by Embrace guitarist Richard McNamara.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
