Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Life really has become too serious, bogged down in the weight of expectation of those who believe that life should be tough, that this one and only chance we have on the planet should be grounded in misery and that each task, each achievement should only be applauded if blood has been sweated and seven bells of gossip can be explained away for a fee in the press, the magazines and in the fan sites; anything to add drama, to add sales.
All This Life is meant to be, is one in which the imagination in once can stir and fuel the synaptic beauty in another, yes life is tough but it doesn’t have to be devastating, it doesn’t need to multifaceted or complicated, sometimes, like all good novels written in the spur of the moment or the love affair grasped by the ingenuity of stream of passionate conscious. Often we make life so difficult that we don’t see the straightforward or the effortless; for Starsailor, the upbeat sound of their new single is reflected in their honest appraisal that effortlessness played a huge part in both its conception but in also its superb delivery.
It is almost a decade since the band floated anything into the listener’s ears, the live sessions and the gigs have been incredibly well received but what is life indeed without the reflection of words, the pictures are always well and good but you always need the caption, the sentence of observation to carry it forward, to give it structure and meaning.
The new single is glorious, it might be described as effortless but it down to its unfussy demeanour, to its sense of purpose, that makes it a song in which to revel alongside; its meaning more than clear, Starsailor are back with a bang, with that all important smile.
Starsailor will be releasing the single All This Life on September 1st.
Starsailor will be performing at the Liverpool Academy on October 19th.
Ian D. Hall