Love Is Here

“Don’t you know you’ve got your daddy’s eyes, Daddy was an alcoholic,” wails Starsailor’s James Walshe on ‘Alcoholic’. While this may be the most gauche lyric I’ve heard this year, there’s no denying that Starsailor do posses a certain something. After listening to this debut I was struck by similarities to acts like The Waterboys and even Coldplay, but a persual of the press release tells me that the ‘Sailors are all 20 something Chorley boys, so given their age we can pardon some of the excesses here present.

‘Alcoholic’ is the first single to be taken from the album and suffers from a tendency toward the histrionic, yet tracks like ‘Tie Up My Hands’ and ‘Lullaby’ display a musical dexterity, as well as a surprising maturity, that shows promise. Gentle guitar lines are combined with sweeping keyboards that are definitely reminiscent of Mike Scott’s Big Music, yet there’s pop sensibility on show here that means that – despite getting perilously close on more than a couple of occasions – they never quite disappear up their own bottoms. Don’t get me wrong, Mr Walshe can undoubtedly sing, but he needs to feel more and think less. Your best, said the occasionally laughable but always utterly affecting Kevin Rowland, is what you least understand.

Despite some serious problems in the vocal department (too stylised, too mannered), and some terribly self-conscious lyrics: “Wipe the make up from your face/Tie your hair and gently fall from grace/‘Till I come again”, it’s obvious that these boys are beautiful players who know how to put together a tune. If they play their cards right and realise that they’ve still got a bit to learn they could be very, very good. Maybe not as good as The La’s, but you never know.