ARTIST: Helen Stellar
TITLE: A Prayer To Myself
LABEL: Vinyl Films Records
GENRE: Indie
BITRATE: 212kbps avg
PLAYTIME: 1h 03m total
RELEASE DATE: 2006-00-00
RIP DATE: 2007-03-14
Track List
----------
1. The Opening Credits 4:22
2. IO (This Time Around) 5:13
3. Compulsion 6:13
4. Newton 5:00
5. Our Secrets 5:17
6. Diane 4:31
7. The Sound Of Carpet 6:55
8. Panic Attack At Breakfast 3:55
9. Don't Look Down 5:03
10. Popris 5:17
11. Flutterby 6:03
12. Weightless 5:47
Release Notes:
"In an age where style is rewarded over content, cynicism inevitably becomes
second nature. Passion and originality have given way to cut-and-paste
songwriting and carbon-copy imagery churned out for commercial mass consumption.
All is not lost. There is a light that still shines...this is HELEN STELLaR."
Listening to the complexity of their sound it's hard to believe that HELEN
STELLaR is only a threesome: Jim Evens on vocals and guitar, Dustin Robles on
bass, and Clif Clehouse on drums. Originally hailing from Chicago, the trio is
now based in Los Angeles.
In 2002, HELEN STELLaR caught the attention of KCRW's Nic Harcourt, host of the
world-renown radio show "Morning Becomes Eclectic". A week after receiving their
first release, The Newton EP, Harcourt put it on the air. "That was a crazy time
for us," says Jim. "We started getting all these emails from people we didn't
know asking who we were and where we came from. Then Nic Harcourt himself called
us because his listeners wanted to know about us and he didn't know what to tell
them." This attention brought HELEN STELLaR to L.A. for the first time, where
Harcourt attended their first show at The Knitting Factory. When the show was
over, he asked the band to play live on "Morning Becomes Eclectic" an honor
given to only two unsigned bands before them.
The endorsements kept coming as Richard Milne of Chicago's WXRT 93.1 FM exalted,
"[The Newton EP] is so good that if I could play all four tracks off this EP, I
would, because they flow so well; everything segues beautifully. Just phenomenal
better than 99% of the stuff I get."
Most recently, HELEN STELLaR's music made its way to former Rolling Stone rock
critic turned filmmaker Cameron Crowe (Singles, Almost Famous, Vanilla Sky), who
fell in love with and included the track IO (this time around) from the Below
Radar EP in his upcoming film Elizabethtown.,"He uses music so well in his films
and to hear he wanted to use IO, we were extremely flattered," says Dustin.
HELEN STELLaR draws comparisons to London's "shoegaze" movement of the early
90's with thunderous drums, thick-grooved bass melodies and distorted guitar
bliss. But elements of their sound transcend the genre. For one, the vocals
Jim's voice soars above these huge compositions with its emotive capacity,
bolstered by heart spun lyrics: "There's more to life than death, moonlight in
every breath and love is ocean deep/There are stars that you can't see, stars I
swear we'll reach/You need me to lead - I need you to believe..." - Our Secrets,
from the band's latest EP I'm Naut What I Seem. But their recordings are only
the tip of a multi-sensory experience that is HELEN STELLaR. Not to be missed,
their live show has become increasingly powerful. In person, the music has room
to breathe, to come alive with an encompassing quality that allows it to not
only be heard but felt as well.
HELEN STELLaR's artistry comes from remaining open to all possibilities, long or
short, make believe or real. With three EPs under its belt The Newton EP, Below
Radar, and I'm Naut What I Seem - HELEN STELLaR has laid claim to a brave and
beautiful sonic niche combining the best elements of space-aged electronica and
legendary rock 'n' roll.