If you have been following Ian Skelly on Facebook, then you have given the privilege to hear snippets throughout the last half of 2012 of his album that he has been recording, Cut from a Star. He would post a link on his Facebook page to a song that he just posted on Soundcloud. If you were lucky enough to look at your page and see his post, then you were lucky enough to hear the song. It would normally be up for a day or so, and then it was gone. You’d just have playback what you just heard in your mind as soon as it was taken off his page. Like a fiend, I have search though the internet to find links or clips to the songs that he posted, but it was like they never even existed.

I remember the hype coming across the pond to the states in 2002, from Mojo and NME articles, about this 6 piece of youths from England, called The Coral, that were breeding catchy 60’s inspired melodies. Eventually, I got a hold of some imports of their first EP’s (The perks of working at a record store) and I really enjoyed what I heard. Definitely had an original sound, and I anticipated hearing the full together package on their debut. It was a stellar release, and one of my favorite LP’s of 2002. I saw them play their first US tour at Doug Weston’s Troubadour, and the live effort melted well against their studio effort.

Since their debut release, I have purchased all their albums, and seen them play a number of times upon returned trips to the states. Their last release in 2010, Butterfly House, left a long waited gap from their previous album, Roots & Echoes in 2007. At last, the final product that was 3 years in the making was a finely produced album by John Leckie. It was the first album released without guitarist Bill Ryder-Jones, who departed in 2008. Again, one of my top albums from 2010.

Recently, they’ve been recording their seventh studio album, but not much has happened publicly with The Coral since their current hiatus. What better thing to do on a band’s hiatus from the public then to work on your own material. It has been reported that James Skelly has been recording his own project. Lee Southall has been recording with Molly Jones, and that’s exactly what drummer Ian Skelly has been doing.

Cut from a Star, from what I have heard so far, is a gentle psychedelic approach to music. It holds a simplistic balance with The Coral’s music, but yet departs from their regular formula of sound. For starters it was recorded on a Tascam cassette recorder, with multi instrumentation’s performed by Mr. Skelly. It’s not just a solo performance on this album. His first single is the title release “Cut from a Star”, which includes James Skelly on bass, with additional features from Paul Duffy, Nick Power, Lee Southall throughout the album. The Sundowners also lay down some background vocals and instrumentation on another choice cut, “I See You”, which was one of the sample clips that he previously posted. “Firebird” was my favorite of the soundcloud releases that I can’t wait to revisit again. A few others that I wonder are on the final track listing are “Its Only Love”, “Into The Red Room”, “Nickel and Dime”, “Caterpillar”, “Paper Skies”, and “D.N.A”.

Check out his latest video for “Cut from a Star”

With the likes of these being released, as well as other songs that he hasn’t smuggled into our minds’ yet, this should be a superior release to wind down the year. Look for it available on DECEMBER 10th. Available on LP,CD, and digital release.

Sir Psych

Check out Ian Skelly’s social media sites:

Facebook: Ian Skelly Music
Twitter: @IanSkelly1
Website: www.ianskellymusic.com
Blog: www.ianskelly.wordpress.com