Starsailor
Love Is Here

THE REVIEW

The album I am about to review is the debut of a band, Starsailor, born at a time when britpop seemed to be considered a dead and buried phenomenon. Some works by Oasis, even though their style would change, will prove all of this wrong, but the period was ripe for the birth of new bands apparently in contrast with britpop; the fact is that the value of some of these bands, like Starsailor, was truly remarkable.

Unjustly, in the opinion of the writer, less acclaimed than Coldplay, whom they are superior to, Starsailor gave life to this "Love is Here" which reaches truly extraordinary heights of expressive objectification. It is a work that alternates moments of desolation with others of unforeseen hope: this contrast is, in my opinion, the strength of the album, along with the already mentioned ability to objectify the emotions that the tracks offer us. The opening is entrusted to the ambiguity of a truly successful acoustic guitar riff, which has at the same time a taste of sadness and hope... then comes the singing of James Walsh, the voice of the band and an excellent performer. The track grows with impeccable precision and fades at the end into a pulse reminiscent of a train departing into the night. The spiritual tension breathed in so many tracks is remarkable, especially in one of the absolute peaks of the album, namely that "Lullaby" in which the ability to control and objectify expression is unmatched: the usual initial arpeggio opens a world of desperate nostalgia, it seems like being in a Renoir painting, made of gardens and children playing. Listen to the precision with which the piano touches are inserted. Towards the end, the track darkens as in a ghostly shadow: it is a surge of sadness that overwhelms us, but soon it dissolves and hope returns. A masterpiece.

The same expressive power is maintained throughout the central part and after the melancholy of "Way to Fall" and "Fever" where the emotional bottom is touched, hope rekindles in "She Just Wept". It feels like lingering in front of a tabernacle at the edge of a mountain path or in front of a frost-covered window in a farmer's cottage... This paves the way for the catharsis of the last four tracks; a breathtaking sequence opened by the anguish of "Talk Her Down" which plunges into the chill of "Love is Here": one really wonders where love is in this track yet its majestic stride and the liturgical organ that truly dominates the piece along with the acoustic, make us think that love is ultimately in the small things, without looking for it elsewhere. The doubt remains along with the organ that fades... a moment of silence... and the power of the album's final peak begins. With "Good Souls" the doubt dissolves, love is truly here, around us, in the small everyday things, in the hearts of the "Good Souls". The pace of the track is spectacular, supported by a drum as precise as a metronome, its expressive power reaching unforeseen distances, like the track launching towards the sunset on the album cover.

But the path of love is hard, the guitar and singing of "Coming Down" remind us of this by sealing a work with a rare ability to speak to our entire being.