Starlet
- When Sun Falls On My
Feet
INNOCENCE: 1997
Swedish band sends demo cassette to American label. Band includes phone number
on cassette, then disconnects phone. Label calls number but can't get through.
Band and label finally connect via missives, agree to terms, and release the
upbeat jangle pop album From the One You Left Behind.
REFINEMENT: 2000
Communication issues settled Swedish band internalizes Smiths obsession and
enters the studio with new songs, acoustic guitars and a cloak of maturity.
Stay on My Side delivered to label. Belle & Sebastian comparisons fly from
on high. Spin.com proclaims album in the Top 15 of 2000.
THE BEND: 2002
Band gathers to rehearse new material planning to follow the musical path of
critically lauded predecessor. Members offer respective songs and democratically
choose titles to be recorded. In the studio improvisation mixes with guitar
amplification. Band maintains melodic skill down a rawer sonic path. When Sun
Falls On My Feet is toasted. Label and band clink glasses together and say, "Cheers!"
When Sun Falls On My Feet marks the return of this Malmö, Sweden quartet's
sweet melancholy. While the band's jangle and quavering croon are still in
place, a darker mood also surfaces, echoing bass lines recalling The Cure,
evoking moods conjuring The Smiths, and arising in the lyrics from the album's
title track, "Have you ever sung along/To the lines of 'Hand In Glove'/As
if they were your own?" The maturation of this Swedish pop band means
a bit less Rickenbacker jangle and some extra oomph in the guitars effects.
Starlet's semi-acoustic sound is bolstered by a bolder, more electric sound
and the lyrics here are even more personal than on previous outings. These
forlorn love songs are simply heartrending, a snapshot of a break-up and the
futility of lost love offering little more than a sliver of hope. When Sun
Falls On My Feet vaults Starlet into the rarified air of the great musical
heartbreakers along with the Trembling Blue Stars and Red House Painters of
the world.
"I know that I loved you with all my heart/Every one of my trembling cells/I
know I loved you till I went blind/And as much as I could ever love myself"
Praise for When Sun Falls On
My
Feet:
The is impressive stuff from this Swedish quartet on its third full length. Their
debut was a fizzy, C86-fueled indiepop explosion; the second one was meditative
and folky and, for better or worse, heavily Belle & Sebastian demaged. Now
Sun is a nice mix of those two approaches: supremely melodic, but
not really "poppy" per se; mature, but never staid or boring; live-sounding,
but fleshed out, too. Lapsed Smiths fans may find this one
interesting. - The Big Takeover
Praise for Starlet's Stay
On My Side:
"…glorious guitar-pop, strummy melodies, and lovelorn lyrics…when
they croon (in English) about silver sports cars and cruising down California
highways, they really, really mean it."-SPIN
"…subdued, spacious chamber pop…"-CMJ New Music Monthly
"Stay On My Side is a seamless album that has lots of loneliness, no lies,
and the warmest melody you could hope for…"-Seattle Weekly
"…misery never sounded so pleasant."-Magnet
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