Friends of the Stars have never done things the easy way. Nor have they often gone the right way; at least, not before a couple of ambitious, ill-conceived or simply stubborn blind alleys have been ventured down first.
That’s why the appearance of “Lighting & Electrical†, their first commercially available album, is such a minor miracle.
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Let’s start by admitting it has taken more than two years to release. The cool way of looking at this is they wrote, played, recorded, and produced the whole thing themselves... at home. They roped in expert technical expertise from kindly friends who gave of their time without charge... which kind of means you can’t tap your watch and look miffed at them all the time.
Basically, it’s homegrown. And you don’t rush ‘homegrown’.
The other way of looking at this - the less cool, “accurate†way of looking at this - is that Friends of the Stars can sometimes be guilty of being headstrong about things they later regret. Not tuning the guitars to a piano for the first two or three months of recording, rendering them utterly useless, is a good example of this.
Buy the "Lighting & Electrical" CD from CD Baby
In truth, both the cool and less cool ways of looking at Lighting and Electrical are true. All opposite things co-exist in the world of Friends of the Stars - right and wrong, a strong work-ethic mixed with sloth, acoustic and electric, English and Scottish, Anglo-Saxon and Celtic, country and folk, rock and the roll ... hell, even male and female.
The other thing FOTS comprises is a rare mix of songwriting savvy, vocal harmonies and honest musicianship. There’s nothing forced or flashy about FOTS - there never has been in their seven year history. There never was a need, when you can plug your guitar in, walk up to the microphone and start playing songs as good as “Old Souls†or “Been Down†or “Sharpening a Bladeâ€.
But the album’s ten tracks tell that story better than any words on any page can. This is the first album the band have released but each song has been filtered through seven years of literally hundreds of songs, countless gigs, different line-ups, different priorities, different goals.
..right
Just as a sideline - despite this wealth of material (little of which has been released until “Lighting & Electrical†) the band’s bloody-mindedness led to them playing four cover versions for their second John Peel Session in 2002. That’s “national radio†chaps, nati-o-nal ra-di-o!
The trio that comprises FOTS - Craig Hamilton, Anna Russell and Cam Docherty - share out the singing and songwriting duties. But, despite the different voices, there’s a unity of sound and a unity of purpose.
Thanks so much for listening...xxx
Buy the album from our label Commercially Inviable by clicking HERE
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If you like the songs you're hearing here you may like the Friends of the Stars Podcasts which feature tunes and conversation and are FREE - click here to download
To buy the CD album direct from the Friends of the Stars website and receive a few extra goodies FOR FREE then click here to be taken direct to the online shop.