It was around about early February 2001 that I first heard of Starsailor, when the debut single Fever was getting it’s first play on Xfm. The Lancashire band were propelled from a life of working in off Licence's to the world of International success off the back of this the debut album, Love is here. The band follow a similar sound to Coldplay with a calming, relaxing sound. However, the album is no where near as impressive as Parachutes, Coldplay’s debut offering but there are signs of big things to come from Starsailor.

The album was finally released in October 2001 after 3 singles and spent weeks at number 1 on the album chart, whilst a year later it was still lingering near the bottom of the chart. This has to be a testament to the band, as a lot of Indie bands will simply vanish out of the top 40 quite quickly, but there are bands like Starsailor, Coldplay and The Stereophonics who seem to hang around for long enough. The album released on EMI records, announced Starsailor’s arrival but enough going on lets actually move onto the album.

“I wanna love you but my hands are tied
I wanna stay here but I've been denied”

The album opens with “Tie Up My Hands”, which is one of the first tracks I actually liked on the album. The guitar and drums come in from the beginning, with a slow beat building up slowly and fairy quietly. The guitar is probably the best part of this intro with the drum keeping the same beat throughout the song but the guitar varying it nicely. The vocals are very strong and the lyrics well written, which is best highlighted in the chorus. The drum beat still the same keeps the track ticking over well. Overall a decent start to the album.

Next up is the final single to be taken off the album, “Poor Misguided Fool”. Another opener with the guitar but this time its a lot more up tempo than the first track. The vocals come in quite quickly with the drums and keyboards taking a back seat to the guitar. The faster pace, makes it a slightly better track than the opener with James Walsh’s vocals really starting to give that impression that there’s a lot of feeling involved in each track. The backing of the drums and guitars sounds pretty simple but is effective, adding a decent tune to the impressive vocals.

Onto another of the singles and a tag that has been thrown in my direction a few times I can tell you, yes I’m talking about “Alcoholic”. This time another slower start with an echo effect on the vocals over the top of a keyboard winding in through the first verse. The first chorus as well is slower before the track really gets going with the introduction of the guitars and drums. Again the vocals sound superb, helped along nicely by the guitars, but in the quieter section of the track I think shows a lot of promise for the band.

“But your mother kept it all inside
And she threw it all away”

The next track is another of the singles “Lullaby”. It opens with a fairly mellow guitar, building up slowly till the vocals and drums come in and again the guitar lead track sounds brilliant. The song has a brilliant harmony and the guitar lead again really makes the track sound a bit more upbeat than normally it would do. It’s another well written track by James who does both the singing and song writing, shows a great deal of maturity and talent throughout.

The first track on the album that really took me a while to get into was “Way To Fall”. It’s another slow opening lead again by the solo guitar, before the vocals come in along with a keyboard. The start is very solemn with a very relaxed slow pace, really bringing the feel of the album to a different level. The vocals again sound good, but the pace of the song means it takes a while before you really enjoy them. The lyrics again are well written though, and James Walsh really shows he has a talent and could go on to be an amazing songwriter. But it’s the pace of tracks like this that really take the edge off the album, as I mentioned it takes too long before you actually enjoy them.

Then it’s onto another of the singles and in fact it’s the bands debut single “Fever”, the reason I actually got into them in the first place. Now this probably one of my favourite tracks, it opens with the guitar and keyboard, before the vocals and a booming bass line come in. Again the vocals sound amazing as the bass and drum really keep the song flowing. It’s a little bit downbeat but somehow it still sounds quite lively. The chorus really lifts the pace of the track off, but simply put this is probably the best track on the album.

“Man, I must have been blind
To carry a torch
For most of my life”

This is a track that despite how long I’ve been listening to this album, I always find a bit hit or miss, “She Just Wept”. It opens with a quiet guitar intro, building up gradually as it comes into the song, which does sound really good, but I think the vocals are left too long before they come in. This is where the track loses a lot of marks because the vocals are outstanding, but if you lose interest in that intro you end up skipping the track. The guitar again plays a major part in making this track a lot better, with the main elements of the song being Walsh’s vocals and the superb guitar accompaniment. But as I mentioned, the intro really loses the momentum the rest of the song has.

Then it’s onto “Talk Her Down”, which I really didn’t like to start with but after a few listens it’s become one of my favourites on the album. The vocals kick it off on their own, with quite an upbeat sound, and the guitar joining in shortly afterwards. The song is fairly fast paced, with the piano taking a leading role for short sections accompanying Walsh’s vocals well but again it’s the guitar that is prominent throughout the track. The drums have really taken a back seat throughout the album, but the contribution they make to the tracks, may not be plain to see but the effect on each track is important to the constituency of the album.

Now with only 3 tracks to go we come to the title track of the album “Love Is Here”. Another slower track opening with a repetitive note on the keyboard, before the drums join in quietly in the back ground and then the vocals coming in. The guitars take a little while to come in, but as normal when they do, along with the piano this time taking the lead in the song. The vocals again are solid, although maybe sounding a little similar to a few of the other tracks, this is probably the slowest on the album but it is a decent song.

With two tracks to go, we come to another of the singles “Good Souls”. Another of my favourites on the album, it’s a much more upbeat start with the guitars and drums bringing it into the vocals playing a sort of simple repetitive tune, but in such a way that it’s actually really catchy rather than depressing like “She Just Wept”. The vocals again are impressive, as it really is tracks like this that show Walsh off at his best. The guitar and bass take the main roles this time and sound in perfect harmony with the vocals. The drums again, not the most obvious of contributions but where you hear them you realise just what they do for the track.

And the final track on the album is “Coming Down”. A long note on the piano, before the guitar comes out of the silence and then the vocals joining in pretty soon afterwards. A rather downbeat track with the vocals really taking the pace down, where the guitar on a different track would actually be making it more upbeat. Again a large proportion of the track is Walsh and the guitar on there own. The guitar again sounds amazing, while the vocals just sound as good as on any other track on the album. A perfect, slow calming way to finish off the debut album.

“Waste your days
On your own
Getting drunk
getting stoned
I'm sober
Still alone”

So there we have it the debut album from Starsailor, it didn’t make the same impact as Coldplay’s debut album, but I feel the fact the even though the second album is out now and this one is still selling, speaks volumes for them. Big things are yet to come from the band, as this is just the start. The album if you don’t already own it is available from CD-wow.com for £8.99, however I’d have a look in HMV during a sale, as I have seen it in there for £4.99.