of Arrowe Hill’s Adam Easterbrook has been a prolific chap over the last few years; upping the band’s discography from three to soon-to-be six at a rate of an album a year. This latest single comes from his upcoming LP, ‘Love Letters, Hate Mail & The Haunted Self’

‘The Stars Are Against Us’ is a five minute mini-epic in three parts; the opening section a wistful testament to a loss of control even while struggling to get it back – “The stars are against us/Did everything that we were able/No time for hiding under tables”

A minute and a half into the track, the tempo switches up a gear with a stomping rhythm; a more forthright and aggressive sound to accompany a more directly challenging vocal: “I wasn’t surprised/Nothing was right, Just left outside...looking back, I find you here/Is it over?”

The song switches again in the final third, into a psychedelic swirl of backwards sounds and layered instruments and vocals which almost fight against each other for dominance. There is a rawness and an almost tangible pain to it that gives the song a really affecting power. It closes with a reprise of the first section, Easterbrook repeating “the stars are against us” with what almost sounds like a begrudging acceptance.

One gets the feeling that, with ‘Love Letters, Hate Mail & The Haunted Self,’ of Arrowe Hill have really opened themselves up. If this first single is anything to go by, it will be an emotionally intense listen, but a thoroughly moving and rewarding one. The single is available to download between the 23rd and 30th July, with the album to follow shortly after.


Track Listing