Album Review: All This Life, Starsailor

The stadium sized ambition, the heart-on sleeve sincerity, the gargantuan hooks and the kind of indie earnestness NME would fawn over – Starsailor return at a time when their modus operandi isn’t exactly going to be welcomed by the rock-averse musical fashionistas.

So what? All This Life recalls the most grandiose of mid-00s chart bands in some style. The album’s 11 tracks also find Starsailor reflecting surprisingly eclectic influences. ‘Caught in the Middle’ is good: a stylish mix of synth and strings with an earworm of a chorus and an electronic pulse. Elsewhere the band display their chops as a 70s-era jam band, with the shred-heavy, extended outro to ‘Blood’ proving that these guys have the musical chops. ‘Take a Little Time’ is the standout, with vocalist James Walsh providing a piercing falsetto that invigorates an already potent, funk driven score.

All This Life is not all good. On opening track and first single ‘Listen To Your Heart’, the band sound like an over-busy U2 cover band as Walsh does his best Bono impression over some clunky and forgettable guitar lines. Other dubious efforts evoke a filtered version The Killers or less anthemic Arcade Fire songs.

All This Life has its shortcomings. But there’s still enough here to get your teeth into.

6/10

Out now.