Careers are moving fast for The Stills
“It's a mind-blowing amount of people,” Tim Fletcher, lead singer and guitarist for The Stills said. “Bigger than most towns, villages and small cities of the world.”
He was talking about a crowd his band played for on July 20 of this year. It was Quebec City's 400th Anniversary, and over 270,000 people showed up.
To be fair, most of them were there to see the night's headliner, Paul McCartney, but it was still an unforgettable experience for The Stills. They even had the chance to talk to Sir Paul for a while backstage, even if they, themselves, acted like nervous fans.
But since that monumental concert, The Stills have been touring like madmen, stopping in London just a few days ago to play with Sam Roberts at Centennial Hall. They've been promoting their latest release, Oceans Will Rise. It's The Stills' most rocky, anthemic album to date, and highlights the changes they've undergone since Logic Will Break Your Heart, in 2003 (which contained their breakthrough single “Still in Love Song”).
Now, their productions have reached epic proportions, with walls of electric guitars, and sing-along, or even shout-along parts.
“There's definitely a lot of harnessed energy in these songs,” said Fletcher of the album over the phone, “There's a lot of fighting in them.”
The fighting he speaks of comes out in the thematic concepts of the album. From the title itself, to songs like “Snow in California” and “Dinosaurs”, many have pointed to global warming as its focus. Still, Fletcher insists that things aren't so clear cut.
“We didn't start off with that theme; it only became apparent afterwards. When you write a record, you channel a feeling and go with that, and work at exposing the raw current of that song, but... when it all comes together, people see these things.”
In fact, many of the songs deal with concepts that some might even call over-reaching. Cataclysm, the rebirth of civilization, even “the fragility and tininess of human beings in the context of the universe” are all topics discussed on Oceans Will Rise.
And from those descriptors, the album may sound pretty bleak, but it's not. According to Fletcher, it is the opposite; it is the fight against impending destruction, to create a world that's more understanding and compassionate.
But like Fletcher's lyrics, the artwork can also be misconstrued. It's a stark black background with a photo of a real, golden skull on it, facing towards the viewer. A little cryptic, right? Not exactly.
“That skull was bought on eBay by the director of the album artwork, and he gave it to his ex-girlfriend in a bid to win her back, and it worked,” Fletcher said. “So we see it as a symbol of hope and potential.”
Still, Fletcher laughed about it.
“Who knows who that skull belongs to, but they definitely didn't know that they would end up on an album cover in 2008.”
For now The Stills will be finishing up some Canadian dates before heading off to Europe, so it'll be a while before they return to London. But in the mean time, check out Oceans Will Rise — it's worth it.
He was talking about a crowd his band played for on July 20 of this year. It was Quebec City's 400th Anniversary, and over 270,000 people showed up.
To be fair, most of them were there to see the night's headliner, Paul McCartney, but it was still an unforgettable experience for The Stills. They even had the chance to talk to Sir Paul for a while backstage, even if they, themselves, acted like nervous fans.
But since that monumental concert, The Stills have been touring like madmen, stopping in London just a few days ago to play with Sam Roberts at Centennial Hall. They've been promoting their latest release, Oceans Will Rise. It's The Stills' most rocky, anthemic album to date, and highlights the changes they've undergone since Logic Will Break Your Heart, in 2003 (which contained their breakthrough single “Still in Love Song”).
Now, their productions have reached epic proportions, with walls of electric guitars, and sing-along, or even shout-along parts.
“There's definitely a lot of harnessed energy in these songs,” said Fletcher of the album over the phone, “There's a lot of fighting in them.”
The fighting he speaks of comes out in the thematic concepts of the album. From the title itself, to songs like “Snow in California” and “Dinosaurs”, many have pointed to global warming as its focus. Still, Fletcher insists that things aren't so clear cut.
“We didn't start off with that theme; it only became apparent afterwards. When you write a record, you channel a feeling and go with that, and work at exposing the raw current of that song, but... when it all comes together, people see these things.”
In fact, many of the songs deal with concepts that some might even call over-reaching. Cataclysm, the rebirth of civilization, even “the fragility and tininess of human beings in the context of the universe” are all topics discussed on Oceans Will Rise.
And from those descriptors, the album may sound pretty bleak, but it's not. According to Fletcher, it is the opposite; it is the fight against impending destruction, to create a world that's more understanding and compassionate.
But like Fletcher's lyrics, the artwork can also be misconstrued. It's a stark black background with a photo of a real, golden skull on it, facing towards the viewer. A little cryptic, right? Not exactly.
“That skull was bought on eBay by the director of the album artwork, and he gave it to his ex-girlfriend in a bid to win her back, and it worked,” Fletcher said. “So we see it as a symbol of hope and potential.”
Still, Fletcher laughed about it.
“Who knows who that skull belongs to, but they definitely didn't know that they would end up on an album cover in 2008.”
For now The Stills will be finishing up some Canadian dates before heading off to Europe, so it'll be a while before they return to London. But in the mean time, check out Oceans Will Rise — it's worth it.
