''Sometimes the Stars'' is the third studio album by
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
n
blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
/
roots
A root is the part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors the plant body, and absorbs and stores water and nutrients.
Root or roots may also refer to:
Art, entertainment, and media
* ''The Root'' (magazine), an online magazine focusing ...
band,
The Audreys
The Audreys are an Australian blues and roots band which formed in Adelaide, in 2004 by founding mainstay, Taasha Coates on lead vocals, melodica, harmonica and ukulele. They have released four studio albums, '' Between Last Night and Us' ...
. The album was released on 8 October 2010 and peaked at number 28 on the
ARIA Charts
The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...
. The album features the contributions from acclaimed jazz pianist
Paul Grabowsky
Paul Atherstone Grabowsky (born 27 September 1958) is an Australian pianist and composer.
Biography
Born in Lae, Papua New Guinea, Grabowsky is a pianist and composer of music for film, theatre and opera. His father Alistair had lived in Papu ...
, former
John Butler Trio
The John Butler Trio are an Australian roots/rock band led by guitarist and vocalist John Butler, an APRA and ARIA-award-winning musician. They formed in Fremantle in 1998 with Jason McGann on drums, Gavin Shoesmith on bass and John Butler on vo ...
drummer
Michael Barker and vocals from
Tim Rogers.
At the
ARIA Music Awards of 2011
The 25th Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (generally known as ARIA Music Awards or simply The ARIAs) were a series of award ceremonies which included the 2011 ARIA Artisan Awards, ARIA Hall of Fame Awards, ARIA Fi ...
, the album won
ARIA Award for Best Blues and Roots Album
The ARIA Music Award for Best Blues and Roots Album, is an award presented at the annual ARIA Music Awards, which recognises "the many achievements of Aussie artists across all music genres", since 1987. It is handed out by the Australian Recor ...
; the third time the band had won this award in as many nominations.
Background and release
After the release of ''
When the Flood Comes'' in 2008, band members Cameron Goodall and Michael Green left for other musical projects, leaving Taasha Coates and Tristan Goodall as a duo. Coates said the departure came without "bitter sentiments" saying "They're lovely boys, but Tristan and I found that once we got into the studio to record, it felt really liberating because we could really free up the arrangements and have different instruments on them and get in different guests, so it ended up being a really positive thing."
Prior to the writing of ''Sometimes the Stars'', Coates embarked on a backpacking trip across
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
. Coates said "I went for a five-week holiday with my partner – I used to do a lot of travel when I was younger. I've done a lot of travel with the band, but it's so different 'cause you have to lug around your shoes and your nice frocks and make-up. I wanted to travel with one pair of jeans, one pair of shoes and a sleeping bag – it was just a really nice thing to do."
A few months later, and after some writing sessions, Coates and Goodall set off on a tour as a duo, road-testing some of the songs that would eventually end up on the album. Coates said "We've taken our time writing this record... we felt really rushed writing the second record, so we really wanted to give ourselves a bit of time. The heart of the band's always been Tristan and I, so I think it's more honest, in a way, to bring it back to the two of us."
Coates recorded her vocals in single takes so as to capture the spontaneity of their live performance.
Track listing
# "Comfort Me" - 3:37
# "I'll Take What's Mine" - 4:08
# "Troubles Somehow" - 3:31
# "Poorhouse" - 3:37
# "Monster" (Part II) - 3:32
# "Falling Down" - 4:20
# "Sometimes the Stars" - 4:32
# "Two States Away" - 5:00
# "Little Molly" - 4:44
# "Lonesome Valley" - 3:46
;Bonus Disc
# "Banjo & Violin"
# "Small Things"
# "Poorhouse"
# "Comfort Me"
Charts
References
{{Authority control
2010 albums
The Audreys albums
ARIA Award-winning albums