Starsailor
All This Life

Even James Walsh's Starsailor arrives at their first post-reunion album of original songs with this new "All This Life."

Recorded at Richard McNamara's studios (guitarist of Embrace, who also serves as producer here) in Hipperholme, West Yorkshire, the new work comes after the 2014 best of (featuring two new tracks) and also follows Walsh's solo career, which yielded two studio albums and an EP.

The new work opens with the notes of the first single "Listen To Your Heart," a very energetic track (and very close to the latest Placebo) that brings the band back to the more rocking atmospheres of the underrated "On The Outside," followed by the second single and title track "All This Life," more relaxed and enriched by a harmonica insert in the delicate finale.

Things become more varied with the new track "Take A Little Time," a piece conceived three years ago that makes its very funky groove its strength (an absolute novelty for the band). Same goes for "Caught In The Middle," though this time immersed in soul and borrowing more than a little from Ed Sheeran in the refrain. We find more canonically Starsailor atmospheres in two growing ballads like "Sunday Best" (very beautiful) and "Blood," before diving into U2's penultimate manner in "Best Of Me," previewed in an acoustic version before the album's release.

After another very calm number like "Break The Cycle," at the end we find the two tracks where McNamara has laid it on thicker: these are "Fallout," essentially an Embrace track reinterpreted in a Starsailor key, and the singular "FIA (Fuck It All)," more than six minutes between rather discreet folk and electronics. Closing with "No One Else," a two-minute (in terms of style) legacy of the frontman's solo experience.

An excellent return for Starsailor, which does not betray the deeply rooted convictions of the English band, while introducing a couple of innovations that could be interesting to explore in the future.

Best track: "Listen To Your Heart"