The Hanging Stars + Henry Webb-Jenkins & Si Connelly

The London band’s sixth album arrives after a line-up change at the end of 2024 forced a rethink. “A new leaner approach — bass, drums, guitars, four-part harmonies,” says guitarist Patrick Ralla. “Certainly worked for The Byrds, Big Star and Teenage Fanclub.” They cut it in a week in February 2025 at Clashnarrow, Edwyn Collins’s studio in Helmsdale, half an hour south of John O’Groats. Third album they’ve made there, in a place they describe as “a sort of mixture between Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory and the BBC’s Repair Shop”. They played Edwyn’s own gear — the Gretsch Blackhawk from his Orange Juice days, and the fuzz box off “A Girl Like You”. Gerard Love of Teenage Fanclub shaped it, working from demos posted between Glasgow and London, then joining them for a week to add vocals and arrangements. Sean Read produced and engineered. Richard Olson writes most of it — “All Your Yesterdays”, “The Glasshouse”, “Let It Slide” — with one from Ralla and a first from bassist Paul Milne. Paulie Cobra drums on the record but has taken a sabbatical; Charlie Salvidge (TOY, Proper Ornaments) has the stool live. Byrds jangle, Big Star hooks, Tom Petty’s directness.