Stellastarr* - new Single, Album, and Gigs!

stellastarr* are set for their biggest UK tour ever. The band played a series of very intimate shows for their fans previewing songs from their sophomore album ‘Harmonies For The Haunted’ in December last year. Their very brief tour ended in a triumphant set at Koko in London which saw fans crowd-surfing to favourites such as ‘My Coco’ and ‘No Weather’ with the most rapturous response going out to new single ‘Sweet Troubled Soul’ which is released February 13th "after Koko last year we can’t wait to get back to the UK" said Shawn Christensen.

Shawn Christensen (Vocals/Guitar) formed stellastarr* with fellow Pratt School Of Art alumni Arthur Kremer (drums) and Amanda Tannen (bass). They became stellastarr* on discovering guitarist Michael Jurin whilst collecting mail. Having been THE band of SXSW 2003 in Texas, stellastarr* went on to become one of the most talked about bands of that year. The band toured worldwide on their own headlining shows and supporting bands such as Iggy And The Stooges, Jane’s Addiction and Red Hot Chilli Peppers. The album ‘stellastarr*’ won them plaudits and fans the world over but the experience took its toll "A year and a half of touring left me stifled, and I needed a rest" says Christensen.

After a brief hiatus the band reconvened in their Brooklyn studio space. It was immediately obvious that they collectively wanted to change things quite drastically, the new album they wanted to have a strong cohesive sound, the album was to be written from scratch, everything that had been written on the road over the previous 2 years was scrapped. Eventually the studio work began with David Schiffman (Rick Rubin’s engineer) producing. Both musically and lyrically stellastarr*s writing was coming from a darker and isolated place, particularly on new tracks ‘When I Disappear’ and ‘Island Lost At Sea’ "Shawn’s lyrics evolved into this slivered vision that runs through the songs, the disappointment about things crumbling and falling apart" says Michael. Its clear to see all of this in the finished results, their new album ‘Harmonies For the Haunted’ is an altogether different creature to their debut. Gone are the brash, punk-inspired numbers like ‘Jenny’ and ‘No Weather’ and instead the new album carries with it a lonely almost funereal ambiance. ‘Harmonies From The Haunted’ is a bold and epic piece of work that shows a band evolving and developing both its sound and scope.

The first single from ‘Harmonies For The Haunted’ will be ‘Sweet Troubled Soul’. It will come with an exclusive remix from James Iha. There is also an amazing video from Adria Petty. The single will be released February 13th with the album to follow on February 20th.The band will come in for a very short tour at the end of November and have plans to return for a full tour of the UK in February, tracklisting a tour dates follow.

February
19th Reading Fez
20th London Astoria (NME Awards Show)
21st Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms
23rd Oxford Zodiac
24th Leicester Princess Charlotte
25th Stoke Sugarmill
27th Liverpool Barfly
28th Birmingham Barfly

March
1st Bristol Fleece And Firkin
2nd Sheffield Leadmill
3rd Dundee Reading Rooms
4th Glasgow ABC2
6th Manchester Academy 3