The Hanging Stars – I Woke Up in July [EP] : Review

Simultaneously retro and innovative, the Hanging Stars are the best Americana band in the UK since Matthews’ Southern Comfort with their perfect blend of British dream pop and Californian country-rock, like the Stone Roses met Buffalo Springfield.

The three-track EP gets its name from the opener “I Woke Up in July,” one of the strongest, most beautiful songs from their early 2020 release A New Kind of Sky. Lush production, the otherworldly quality of Richard Olson’s vocals, sweetness without twee- it’s the kind of song that has such quiet yet big, breathtaking presence that it could cause every person in a crowded room to stand still and listen.

Their take on Bert Jansch’s “Fresh as a Sweet Sunday Morning” honors the most essential elements of the fellow Brit folk rocker’s opening song from the classic and similarly dualistic LA Turnaround. A riveting extended solo by the Stars’ astonishing pedal player Joe Harvey Whyte adds urgency and a cosmopolitan polish.

Side B’s “The Mountain” is a rambling, psychedelic journey with droning guitars, steel, and a winding flute overlay that all serve to create a vivid, sublime soundscape while the rhythm section climbs and crashes.

The digital album, along with the rest of the band’s marvelous body of work, is available now on Bandcamp.