Starsailor

Formed in Wigan, Greater Manchester by former music students James Walsh, James Stelfox and Ben Byrne and keyboardist Barry Westhead, Starsailor took their name from the 1970 Tim Buckley album. Success came rather suddenly for the quartet, when, on the basis of just a few demo tapes featuring the songs "Fever," "Coming Down" and "Love Is Here," EMI signed the group and sent them out on tour with JJ72. They eventually released "Fever" as a single in 2001, which won over critics and music fans, before a sell-out national tour and second single "Good Souls" was released later that year. Their first UK top ten hit was "Alcoholic" in 2001, before the release of their debut album Love Is Here, which was followed by a European tour. Starsailor were also turning heads in the US when they appeared on The David Letterman Show and after the 2002 release of their debut album in the country, they undertook a North American tour. Phil Spector was drafted in to produce the band's follow-up album, but after several clashes and a switch of producers, Silence Is Easy arrived in 2004, eventually going gold. The band followed it up with 2006's On the Outside then All the Plans in 2009. The latter charted at number 26 on the UK Albums Chart, after which frontman James Walsh announced his wishes to pursue solo projects and the band went on hiatus. 2014 saw a reunion with performances at festivals around Europe and America. To coincide with their reformation, they also released their Greatest Hits album and announced their fifth studio album All This Life, which was released in 2017 and produced by Embrace guitarist Richard McNamara. Starsailor's sixth studio album Where the Wild Things Grow arrived in March 2024 and was produced again by Richard McNamara. The LP showcases additional guitar contributions from Tony “Doggen” Foster and Travis’s Andy Dunlop, as well as backing vocals from Lucy Jules.

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