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DUBSTAR have completed recording of their third album, with a single due for release this summer.
As they approached the end of recording sessions, I paid a visit to their Newcastle studio which had been home for them for five weeks.
Dubstar have taken a different approach to recording for the new album, stripping everything back to basics by removing distractions and concentrating purely on the band and the music they're producing. It's been produced by Spike Drake, who engineered on DISGRACEFUL and GOODBYE.
The band have taken a deliberate decision to strip back the arrangements of songs, concentrating on specific sounds and their purpose within the tracks, and the results are fresh and vibrant with a momtentum that was sometimes lacking on GOODBYE. The production is much less synth-based than previously, has more guitar and, generally, more bollocks.
While GOODBYE contained some great tracks, I couldn't help feeling at times that it was just mincing about like it couldn't be bothered. But I don't get that feeling from what I've heard of album number 3. The first demo tape was thrilling, and it didn't even contain the best stuff.
The new tracks sound exciting and vibrant - the sound is spacious and more energetic for only having the necessary sounds.
I is a bolshy up-tempo pop-along, heavy on guitars and in terms of style, if comparisons must be drawn, kind of in the same pillow-fight as I WILL BE YOUR GIRLFRIEND. This was the first track I heard and I was stunned. Instantly catchy and an obvious choice for first single.
Another track (I think it's name was WHEN THE WORLD KNOWS YOUR NAME, but not sure) could also compete as first release. A little more subtle than I, but still very quick to grow on you, and again with a production heavily laden with guitars.
Sarah's voice sounds superb throughout, though one track she insisted I heard makes heavy use of her growling the line 'you like my arse, don't you?' - kind of a whole song of Sarah shouting leery drunken abuse... A paranoia-driven appeal to be loved the way you are.
THE ARC OF FIRE sounds as raw and gritty as the demo - it's a dark, fatalistic song with a spartan, growling production. Check out the review of the earlier demos for more on this song, as well as STAY, RISE TO THE TOP and other tracks.
The techie stuff:
The sound sources used in the session are: Roland Juno 60, JV1080, JD800, Sequential Circuits Pro One, Korg Prophecy, Novation BassStation Rack, and Steve's newly acquired Yamaha DX7(!). All other sounds, including drums, were supplied by a Roland S760 sampler.
Emagic Logic running on a Mac G3 was used for sequencing and for recording Sarah's vocals and Chris' guitars to hard disk.
For each song, everything is backed up to CD - samples, audio, sequences, and all the tracks will be recorded to Otari digital when the band decamp to London to mix the album.
Each of the keyboard synths has been used for specific tasks on the tracks, especially the Juno 60 which has provided a lot of the sounds used on the album.
More info to follow...
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