The Good Souls Return - Starsailor

Wash expands on the grouping of bands into genres and how this affects Starsailor: “The frustrating thing for me though is I think we’ve fallen in-between the cracks when it comes to our fans because we’re not accepted by the people who like Snow Patrol or Keane nor are we accepted by the cooler music fans who like Doves and Elbow. It would just be nice to be one or the other!”

One of the reasons for this loss of ground may be Starsailor’s sound. Lovely as it is, it isn’t really dynamic or cutting edge enough to be associated with Elbow or Doves, but it’s much less extravagant and poppy as Snow Patrol and Keane. The new album focuses very much on a Blues/Americana sound which has always been there but not with as much gusto as All of the Plans. Walsh explains the band’s sound:

“Blues and western music has always been an influence for us, there’s the Neil Young element like I’ve said, as well as Gram Parsons and the whole Americana sound- stripped down to the acoustic guitar and piano. This is what we attempted on the first record.”

The new album, All The Plans, is in my eyes a real gem. If you like Starsailor, even passively, you will love this album. But if you don’t, I’m afraid it won’t convert you. They’ve certainly stayed true to themselves and stuck to what they know- this album is very Starsailor. They’ve nailed their colours to the mast and hoisted it high with pride.

A fresh listen smells of The Killers and Johnny Cash with moody blues guitar, catchy tunes and ballads. Stand-out tracks include current single 'Tell Me It’s Not Over', 'The Thames' could easy be another single, as could title track 'All The Plans', which is classic Starsailor and harks back to the nineties in its sound, then there’s the lovely 'Neon Sky', 'Hurts Too Much' and 'Listen Up' which despite not being an Oasis cover still has the swagger- albeit a lot softer.

Starsailor and the Rolling Stones toured together a few years ago (I’ll leave it up to you to guess who headlined) and Ronnie Wood became a huge fan. So much so, Wood joined Starsailor on their new album. Walsh explains,

“He [Ronnie] always watched from the side of the stage when we played and was a fan of the band… so he turned up to the studio with his fender stratocaster and a bottle of vodka and played on All The Plans!”

So what’s next for Starsailor? James Walsh gazed into his crystal ball and revealed all: “In these times, bands can be dropped whenever record companies feel like it. We’re determined to continue but don’t take it for granted. When this album comes out and we’ve done all the touring and the press we’ll make a decision on what to do next when the time comes round.”

James Walsh admitted that a film soundtrack could be even be on the cards. But for now, Walsh had to excuse himself from the interview to go buy a suit from Saville Row.

“Still connected with the average bloke on the street,” my arse!