Live at Norwich Arts Centre: The Hanging Stars

A line-up change at the end of 2024 proved to be a galvanising moment for The Hanging Stars. “We needed to rethink things,” says guitarist Patrick Ralla. “A new leaner approach – bass, drums, guitars, four-part harmonies. Certainly worked for The Byrds, Big Star and Teenage Fanclub.” The result is a wonderfully energising record full of catchy hooks and a renewed vision. The songs are designed to take the listener away from it all… even if it's just for a little while.

Central to the record’s new direction was the involvement of Gerard Love – one third of Teenage Fanclub’s celebrated songwriting trio and the artist behind Lightships. Starting from demos exchanged between Glasgow and London, Love helped the band strip things back to their essence, ever so gently guiding them toward their finest work to date. He also joined the band for a week of recording, contributing vocals, arrangement ideas and by all accounts a mean vegan curry.

Just A Day is The Hanging Stars’ third album to be recorded at Clashnarrow Studios, Helmsdale located in the most idyllic setting imaginable, thirty minutes south of John O’Groats and overlooking the Moray Firth. The studio, owned and run by Edwyn Collins and Grace Maxwell, is a place the band describe with reverence: “a sort of mixture between Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory and the BBC’s Repair Shop”.

The band recorded the core of the album in a single week in February 2025, using Edwyn’s vintage gear – including the Gretsch Blackhawk he used in his Orange Juice days and the Barnes and & Mullins fuzz box heard on a “A Girl Like You”. The Hanging Stars’ connection with Edwyn Collins extends beyond just using his studio, Patrick plays guitar in Edwyn’s band and they were invited to support Collin’s momentous 2025 Testimonial Tour – A Last Lap Around The UK with dates including The Royal Festival Hall in London and the Theatre Royal in Glasgow.

The new album was produced and engineered by longtime collaborator Sean Read, with overdubs and mixing completed at Read’s Famous Times Studios over the spring of 2025, and additional recording at bassist Paul Milne’s Seagull Studios in East London. Drummer Paulie Cobra anchors the record with his defining beat, lending his voice to the soaring four-part harmonies. A core figure in the band’s story, Cobra has embarked on a prolonged sabbatical, making way for their new live drummer Charlie Salvidge (TOY, Proper Ornaments, Great Silkie) who will join the band on the road.

Frontman and songwriter Richard Olson reaches a creative high point with Just A Day, which opens in a surge of optimism with “All Your Yesterdays”, to “The Glasshouse”’s twelve-string-jangle-meets-New-York-circa-1976 meditation on wealth and class, to “Let It Slide” a feel-good track with a sting in its tail, to the country gospel drone of “Big Red Car” and meditative title track “Just A Day” laments for the day just gone. There are additional compositions from Patrick Ralla (“Keep On Making Me Wait”) and the first inclusion for bassist Paul Milne who wrote the party track “Show Me The Way”.

Their sound evokes classic sounds from the past with an ear towards the future, from The Byrds via Big Star, to The Feelies, Spiritualized, Teenage Fanclub and Tom Petty. Or think Lou Reed and the Velvets jamming with Gorkys Zygotic Mynci. The result is an album that feels simultaneously classic and vibrant, their influences worn lightly giving the songs room to breathe.

“gorgeous” ★★★★ THE TIMES

"The album exhibits a newfound, confident composure - like Teenage Fanclub, they’re more than the sum of their parts" UNCUT

"glowing, cosmic UK Americana...a set of epic soundtracks conjuring kindred spirits Teenage Fanclub and the Velvets" ★★★★ MOJO

“masters in their field” ★★★★ SHINDIG!

“gorgeous, shimmering music” BOB HARRIS, BBC RADIO 2