Love Is Here is the debut studio album by rock band Starsailor, released on 8 October 2001 by Chrysalis Records. After finalising their line-up, a positive review from NME started a bidding war between record labels that eventually saw the band sign to EMI. Following the making of some demos, "Fever" and "Good Souls" were released as singles on 4 February 2001 and 23 April 2001, respectively. The band recorded their debut album at Rockfield Studios with producer Steve Osborne over the course of six weeks. Love Is Here features acoustic guitars accompanied by gentle piano chords, earning it comparisons to the albums Parachutes (2000) by Coldplay, and The Invisible Band (2001) by Travis.
Between June and August 2001, Starsailor supported Dido and Travis on their co-headlining tour of the United States, toured Australia, and performed at the Witnness and V Festivals. "Alcoholic" was released as a single on 17 September 2001, which was followed by a tour of the United Kingdom. They played a handful of US shows at the end of the year; "Lullaby" was released as a single on 10 December 2001. To promote the US release of Love Is Here, the band supported the Charlatans, and went on a headlining tour in that territory. "Poor Misguided Fool" was released as a single on 18 March 2002, which was promoted with a US trek as part of the MTV Campus Invasion tour.
Love Is Here received generally favourable reviews from music critics, some of whom praised the production and songwriting. The album charted at number two in the UK, while also reaching the top 40 in Austria, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, and Scotland. It would later be certified platinum in the UK. All of the singles peaked within the top 40 of the UK Singles Chart, with "Alcoholic" charting the highest at number ten. "Good Souls" and "Alcoholic" also charted in Ireland and the Netherlands. Love Is Here appeared on several publications' best-of-the-year album lists, by the likes of Musikexpress, NME, and Q, among others.
A 20th anniversary expanded edition of the album was scheduled to be released in December 2021, but was delayed until January 2022 due to pressing delays of the vinyl edition.
Background and production
Starsailor were formed in 1996 in Wigan by fellow students James Walsh on vocals and guitar, James Stelfox on bass, and Ben Byrne on drums. They spent four-and-a-half year playing small venues in North West England. After several line-up changes, Barry Westhead was brought in on keyboards at the beginning of 2000. Walsh's brother Andrew worked at a management company and at Heavenly Records, and was impressed with his brother's vocal delivery and songwriting. He booked the band for two shows in London in April 2000, which saw a writing from the NME in attendance. James Walsh said they picked that label as they "haven't got anything that sounds like us at all". It had been produced by Mark Aubrey and the band. Following this, the band went on headlining tours of mainland Europe in March 2001, and then the UK in April 2001. "Good Souls" was released as a single on 23 April 2001, produced by Steve Osborne. Sessions occurred in April and May 2001 over the course of six weeks at Rockfield Studios. Osborne produced the sessions; Adrian Bushby served as recording engineer, with Pro Tools engineer Bruno Ellingham. Osborne did additional production on "Fever"; he mixed the recordings, before they were mastered by Ray Staff at Whitfield Street. The album sees acoustic guitars matched with gentle piano chords, with Walsh's vocals recalling Jeff Buckley, and Richard Ashcroft of the Verve. It saw the band lumped into the New Acoustic Movement, a scene that involved Travis and Badly Drawn Boy which blurred the lines between indie rock and folk rock. Discussing the title, Walsh said the phrase acted as the album's theme, intending it to be "uplifting and positive, because everything around at the moment seems to have quite a cynical edge". He said they intentionally wanted it to sound like Grace (1994) by Buckley and Harvest (1972) by Neil Young. The Tindersticks-esque "Poor Misguided Fool" starts with a New Order-indebted intro section, and continues with a strumming pattern in the vein of "Coffee & TV" (1999) by Blur. Walsh said it was a "bit of a riposte to the coke addled A&R men from an angry young man with a fragile ego". A version of "Alcoholic" had been around for a few years, and was left unfinished until Westhead joined the band. Walsh started "Lullaby" in his bedroom after seeing a headline in Uncut, and was later worked on with the band at their rehearsal space. "Way to Fall" is in triple metre time; it talks about taking risks. Walsh came up with the song in the studio while in the middle of making a documentary on the sessions.
The psychedelia track "Talk Her Down" plays out as a Spaghetti Western film. It was written after Walsh repeatedly saw a girl in a club, and began fantasising about her life. "Love Is Here" evoked the sound of Zero 7; Walsh referred to it as "another call to arms to the unlucky in love". "Good Souls" was compared to the work of the Verve and Embrace, due to its Hammond organ and use of strings. Walsh said it was the oldest track on the album, and was his attempt at writing something in the vein of the Charlatans and Primal Scream. When compared to the demo version, the album's closing track "Coming Down" was pared down to a vocal-and-guitar arrangement. Walsh said it was about the pain a person experiences after the end of a relationship; it tells the story of two drug addicts in love.
Release
In June and July 2001, Starsailor appeared at Fleadh festival in the UK, before supporting Dido and Travis on their co-headlining tour of the United States, and then toured Australia. They played three warm-up shows, leading up to an appearance at the Witnness and V Festivals in August 2001. "Alcoholic" was released as a single on 17 September 2001. Love Is Here was released on 8 October 2001 through Chrysalis Records, which coincided with a UK tour that ran into the following month. "Good Souls" was released to US radio stations on 4 December 2001. The band played a small number of US shows prior to an appearance on Late Night with Conan O'Brien; "Lullaby" was released as a single on 10 December 2001. They ended the year supporting the Charlatans on their three-date arena tour in the UK.
Love Is Here was released in the US on 8 January 2002, which was promoted with a full tour of that territory supporting the Charlatans throughout the month, and an appearance on The David Letterman Show and Saturday Night Live. In March 2002, the band went on a headlining tour of the US, culminating in a performance at South by Southwest. "Poor Misguided Fool" was released as a single on 18 March 2002. The CD version included "Born Again", a remix of "Poor Misguided Fool", and the music video for the song, while the DVD version featured audio for "Born Again" and "Hot Burrito #2", the "Poor Misugided Fool" music video, and interviews. The band returned to the US as part of the MTV Campus Invasion tour throughout April 2002. The band had to cancel some European festival dates due to Walsh becoming a father; they ultimately appeared at the Hultsfred and Roskilde Festivals the following month. Shortly afterwards, they played at the Glastonbury and V festivals. In September 2002, the Love Is Here Live video album was released; it included a live show from the previous year, alongside music videos and a tour film.
Critical reception
Love Is Here was met with generally favourable reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 72, based on 19 reviews.
Commercial performance and accolades
Love Is Here charted at number two in the UK after selling over 58,000 copies in the first week. and number 82 in the Netherlands. "Alcoholic" charted at number ten in the UK, Love Is Here was certified platinum in the UK by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). while NME rated it as the fifth best album of the year.
Track listing
All songs written by Starsailor.
Starsailor
- James Walsh – vocals, guitar
- James Stelfox – bass guitar
- Ben Byrne – drums
- Barry Westhead – keyboards
Production and design
- Steve Osborne – producer <small>(all except track 6)</small>, mixing, additional production <small>(track 6)</small>
- Adrian Bushby – recording engineer, mix engineer <small>(track 10)</small>
- Bruno Ellingham – Pro Tools engineer
- Mark Aubrey – producer <small>(track 6)</small>
- Starsailor – producer <small>(track 6)</small>
- Ray Staff – mastering
- Image State – cover photography
- Tom Sheehan – band photography
- Mary Scanlon – band photography
- Adjective Noun – sleeve design
Charts and certifications
Weekly charts
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+Weekly chart performance for Love Is Here
! scope="col"| Chart (2001)
! scope="col"| Peak<br /> position
|-
! scope="row"| Australian Albums (ARIA)
| 68
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Year-end charts
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+Year-end chart performance for Love Is Here
! scope="col"| Chart (2001)
! scope="col"| Position
|-
! scope="row"| UK Albums (OCC)
| 77
|-
! scope="col"| Chart (2002)
! scope="col"| Position
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!scope="row"|Canadian Alternative Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)
| 156
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! scope="row"| UK Albums (OCC)
| 81
|}
Certifications
References
External links
<!-- This is a licensed stream for the album, which is allowed under Wikipedia polices -->
- Love Is Here at YouTube (streamed copy where licensed)