Hanging Stars - Songs for Somewhere Else

  by Carl Bookstein

published: 10 / 5 / 2018

---

Review

London-based quintet the Hanging Stars' second album 'Songs for Somewhere Else' is a fine psych-folk-country affair. Singer, songwriter and guitarist Richard Olson is at the forefront. Beginning with an easy beat, 'On a Sweet Summer’s Day' achieves a mellifluous flow. A resonant vocal. Bright sounds chime. The effect is akin to a ghost emerging from some kind of haze. The lyrics evoke “the soft summer sun” and imagery “free and easy.” It is a great opener to a solid set. 'Too Many Wired Hours' captures a cabaret like beat, with imagery of rain washing away a cold hard winter’s day. The lyric to 'How I Got This Way' is “You’re so sweet… sugarcoated… The wolves at your door made me want you more.” “The words seem kind of flawed,” he sings, but the emotion rings true. 'Honeywater' is melodic and lovely, somehow subtly evoking an Elliot Smith kind of influence. “All I need is what you feel,” Olson sings: “I’ll wash my hands in honeywater/I want to drown in honeywater.” 'For You (My Blue Eyed Son)' captures images of the countryside; “Under the tree that grows so high.” The narrator bears his soul here: “I beg for forgiveness for the things I’ve done…Yes,I’ll see the bright lights shining for you my blue eyed son.” 'Hold Out Your Hand' is filled with Christian imagery, yet poignant still and not heavy handed. “Rise above me, save me from sin/These days go so fast/All the things came to pass.” Poignant and healing, 'Water Song” is the melodic, flowing closer, speaking to the blue ocean deep, with an enchanting flute accompaniment. The Hanging Stars with 'Songs for Somewhere Else' offer a solid album- a bit of psych rock and folk meets country. It is a homespun cure for apocalyptic days.

Track Listing:-

1 On a Sweet Summers Day
2 Too Many Wired Hours
3 How I Got This Way
4 Mean Old Man
5 Pick Up the Pieces
6 Djupsjön
7 Honeywater
8 For You (My Blue Eyed Son)
9 Hold Out Your Hand
10 Dig a Hole
11 How I Got This Way (Reprise)
12 Water Song

Band Links:-

https://www.facebook.com/thehangingsta
http://www.thehangingstars.com/