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Star of Love is the debut studio album by English/Spanish electronic artists Crystal Fighters. The album was released on the 4th of October 2010 through Zirkulo records. Star Of Love is a backronym of SOL, the Spanish word for "sun".

The general theme and feel of the album stems from singer Laure Stockley's grandfather's writings; specifically an opera he was working on during the breakdown of his mental health and shortly before his death. Star of Love is a continuation of, and homage to, his writings concerning "the unfathomable mystery of the universe, the turbulent journey towards being at peace with death, the triumph of love, and the omnipotence of the sun". What this actually translates to is a combination of traditional Basque instruments, such as the Txalaparta, the danbolin and the txistu; mixed in with "filthy bass drops", electro driven bass lines and a bit of Spanish punk included also.

Release and promotion

Their first studio album, Star of Love was released a full year after the release of their first single, "Xtatic Truth". During this time, the band continued to work on the rest of the songs on the album, focusing on the continuity of the album, given it's many blended genres.

An extended "Limited Edition" version of the album was released exclusively in Australia on the 4th of February, 2011; featuring additional acoustic versions of the tracks "Follow", "Xtatic Truth", "Plage", "Champion Sound" and "At Home".
Additionally, a "Deluxe Edition" of the album is being released worldwide on the 8th of August, 2011. This will feature the additional acoustic tracks in the aforementioned limited edition; as well as a cover of "Fiesta de los Maniquíes", a famous Spanish pop song, by 1980's synthpop group Golpes Bajos. The album was reviewed by Benjamin Hiorns, of online music magazine Subba-Cultcha, who awarded the Deluxe edition of the album a score of 7/10, one point higher than his previous review. He states that the 5 additional acoustic tracks "reveal a side the band could do with exploring more definitively on their second album. "Champion Sound" especially inherits a frantic carnival atmosphere which is insanely infectious. "Plage" also is even more charming in this new rendition and there's a real sense of intimacy which the albums "proper" version sacrificed for immediacy".

Artwork

The album artwork was commissioned to artist John Stark, the artist responsible for the cover for the Commix album, Call to Mind. The original bespoke oil painting took six weeks to complete.

Singles

"Xtatic Truth"

Crystal Fighters released the first single from the album, "Xtatic Truth", on the 15th of May, 2009. The single was relatively well received, coming to the attention of BBC Radio 1’s Nick Grimshaw, who named it "Single of the Week"; NME, who listed it as number eight in their "10 Tracks You Have To Hear This Week"; Mixmag, who named it their record of the month; and Q magazine, who listed it at number 14 in their "Q50", October 2010.

Various versions of "Xtatic Truth" have been featured in compilation albums. The song was licensed to Kitsuné and the "Xtra Loud Mix" was included in their Maison 7 compilation album; the "Magistrates remix" was included on the Annie Mac Presents 2009 compilation album; and the "Last Japan" Remix of the song featured in series 4, episode 7 of the hit UK TV series Skins.

"I Love London"

The group’s second single, "I Love London", was released on Kitsuné on the 1st of December, 2009; featuring Mimi Borelli on vocals. Mimi is also the dancer in the video, which was directed by Martin Zahringer. The track again gained attention from BBC Radio 1, with plays from Nick Grimshaw and Rob da Bank. "I Love London" was featured in Mixmag's Top 100 Records of 2008, placing at number 91. The single was featured in Time Out magazines "50 best London songs", coming in at number 49, with a justification as follows: "This deranged, stuttering ode to Crystal Fighters' adopted city of London does exactly what it says on the tin, the repeated near hysterical refrain, 'I wanna go to a friend’s party', both refreshing in its cut-to-the-chase hedonistic desire and a reflection of the banality and boredom that relentless London partying inevitably brings".

The release was again licensed to Kitsuné and this time included in their Maison 8 compilation album. The Delta Heavy remix of the track can be heard in the 2009 Michael Caine action-drama, Harry Brown.

"In The Summer"

The next single to be released from the album was "In The Summer"; released on the 5th of July, 2010, through Zirkulo records. This single was once again named by the BBC as one of their "Records of the Week". "In The Summer" received wide radio coverage, being played by Rob da Bank and Zane Lowe; being featured as a record to "Go buy Monday" by Dermot O'Leary; and even featuring as one of Huw Stephens's "Hottest records in the world". The video was directed by Tobias Stretch and filmed in the Appalachian Mountains.

"Follow / Swallow"

The double A-side was released on the 27th of September, 2010. The single received positive coverage in the media, with Laura of Glasswerk magazine positively reviewing both singles and describing the tracks as "Jubilant and effervescent"

James Canham, of ThisIsFakeDIY, mirrors this view, stating:

"Follow" is the stronger of the two tracks; it builds up slowly but steadily, keeping an exciting pace and loud, infectious chanting (though rhyming 'swallow' with 'way' by adding 'oh' is somewhat Stuart Murdochian) and into a high paced track that runs through loud choruses, acoustic guitar marrying with electronics (better than James Yuill, don't worry) and pulsing beats.

— James Canham

And had this to say of "Swallow":

Opening with vocals before adding both nylon string finger picking and rave synths together could fall down so easily, but here it works beautifully and seamlessly, making an identifiable and brilliant sound. The chorus is again catchy and all breaks are done well, it’s just not quite as addictive as the other A-Side.

— James Canham

The music video for "Follow" was directed by Ian Pons Jewell and "Swallow" by Tobias Stretch, once again.

"At Home"

"At Home" was released on the 14th of March, 2011. It was widely played as part of the BBC Radio 1 playlist and was Dev's "Record of the Week" for the 21st of February.

The single also gained positive reviews from the industry, with Jasmine Phull of ThisIsFakeDIY awarding the album 8/10 and said this of the mix of traditional Basque music and electronica: "The quintet manages to bring two normally opposing genres together with an outcome not unlike one harmonious civil ceremony; the unity of two separate entities that work best when together.". Major music magazines Q and Mojo both awarded the single 4 out of 5. Nick Bryans, of The Whiteboard Project, awarded the album 6.5 out of 10, citing the following:

A reoccurring and perturbing issue that resonates with the song, is if one would describe as impressive, rather than enjoyable. All the components are there, but it seems to lack a drive or spark. The big issue in this lo-fi style, is when a purposely demure tone starts to sound more like someone simply going through the motions, and certainly the song lacks drive and tenacity. It’s not enough to just be able to put styles of music together, you need to achieve something out of the ordinary with it.

— Nick Bryans

The music video was directed by Ferry Gouw and shot by Adam Etherington.

"Plage"

"Plage", the final single from the album, is due for (worldwide) release on the 8th of August, 2011; coinciding with the release of the "Deluxe Edition" of the album. The single was released through PIAS to the continental European market earlier in the year to both positive reviews and chart success in Holland. Whiteboard music awarded the single 8.7 out of 10, citing that the single "is an extraordinarily pleasant breath of fresh air into the current indie music scene".

Track listing

All tracks are written by Graham Dickson, Sebastian Pringle and Gilbert Vierich

No.TitleAdditional productionLength
1."Solar System" 3:58
2."Xtatic Truth" 3:38
3."I Do This Everyday"Charlie Hugall3:45
4."Champion Sound" (Alt. version)Crystal Fighters, Luke Smith3:25
5."Plage"Hugall, Crystal Fighters3:50
6."In the Summer"Hugall3:56
7."At Home"Hugall5:06
8."I Love London" 2:47
9."Swallow"Hugall4:31
10."With You"Hugall4:23
11."Follow"Hugall3:16
Total length:42:35

Credits

  • Mimi Borelli - vocals on all tracks except 1, 2, 4, 5 & 11
  • Laure Stockley - vocals on all tracks except 1, 3, 4, 5 & 8
  • Chris Hugall - drums on all track except 2, 4 & 8
  • G. De Castro & A. Mcdowell - vocals on all tracks except 1, 4 & 7
  • M Lozano & L. Youngman - vocals on track 6
  • Charlie Hugall - additional recording on all tracks except 1, 2, 4 & 8; mixing on all tracks except 1, 2, 3, 4 & 8
  • Adam Looker - additional recording on tracks 5 & 6; mixing on track 6
  • Crystal Fighters - mixing on all tracks (tracks 2 and 8 mixed at the Crystal Ballroom)
  • Alan O'Connell (Alalal) - mixing on traks 1, 3 & 6
  • Luke Smith - mixing on track 4
  • Stuart Hawkes (of Metropolis Mastering) - mastering on all tracks
  • John Stark - cover painting
  • Tim Green - design & art direction

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
BBC MusicFavourable
The Brag
Drowned In Sound(7/10)
The Fly
Metro
MusicOMH
NMEUnfavourable
The Skinny
Subba-Cultcha(6/10)
Virgin Media(10/10)

Star of Love received widely varying reviews. AnyDecentMusic?, an album reviews aggregator, calculated an average score for the album of 6.1/10 from 11 independent reviewers. Caitlin Welsh of The Brag was particularly critical, stating:

"I Love London", they ape M.I.A.'s Shoreditch patois over four-to-the-floor beats that are oppressive in their attempts to be visceral, and a robot-fart bass synth that sounds like your speakers aren't hooked up properly. There's no room in the mix, no space between noises to thrash and dance – it's going for catchy, edgy hard-dance, and it sounds like a Skitzmix.

— Caitlin Welsh

Alex Hoban of NME was equally critical, saying that "With Delorean doing the same thing right now so much better, favouring Crystal Fighters would be like being handed an LCD Soundsystem record and chucking it to listen to Hadouken!."
Opposed to this, Josh Holliday of Virgin Media awarded the album a rare perfect score and effusively praised the bands first outing:

Symbiotic throughout, Star Of Love is an eclectic barrage of contrasting, and often cacophonously clashing genre combinations. Yet whilst perhaps their most triumphant moment, the naively wondrous "Plage" purveys a concrete sense of stylistic cohesion, it’s this constant flittering and fidgeting between reality and surrealism, fact and fiction, British and Basque that propels Crystal Fighters into mythical realms, as they bathe in ticker tape at the heart of a crystal maze only they can conquer.

— Josh Holliday

Stephen Jones, of the Metro backs this up, saying that "On paper, Crystal Fighters' self-produced 'fast dance music', melding Basque folk instruments and thumping electro punk pop with lyrics from singer Laure's grandfather's addled writings, sounds like a disaster. In reality it works."

Charts

Chart Year Peak
position
UK Dance Chart 2010 10
UK Independent Albums Breakers Chart 2010 16
Ultratop Albums chart 2011 89
Ultratop Heatseekers chart 2011 6

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External links

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