Love Is Here

If Travis are watered-down Radiohead, what does that make Starsailor? Waterlogged and whiny, as it turns out. Starsailor are of course being tipped as the next “next big thing” to come out of Britain—and they very well may be—but their debut doesn’t give us a clue as to why. Love Is Here is an unmanageable dose of melodramatic soft rock that offers all the melancholic ache of Travis and Coldplay without any of the pop charms. Frontman James Walsh sings in a pinched moan that imagines Jeff Buckley being drawn and quartered, though, in fairness, it must be said that the band’s orchestral folk-pop matches him step for maudlin step. There are moments (“Talk Her Down,” “Good Souls”) where they seem to be working toward some sort of cathartic, emotional release, but they never really get there. Instead, Starsailor seem happy to wallow in their high-cheekboned pop misery. Which is fine—just don’t expect us to join them.