Showstar
From Huy, a small Belgian town, Showstar is a name well known to both national radio playlists as to festival audiences in Belgium, France and the UK. Since the early 2000s the group has been searching for the perfect pop song to appeal to housewives and students, CEOs and motorists stuck in traffic jams for days. So far they have achieved several radio hits (Little Bastard, Day by Day, Superlover ...) and prestigious support slots with bands such as The Rakes, The Thrills, Maximo Park, The Charlatans, and more ...
Showstar is not a simple pop group. As well as uplifting songs to be played head-held-high, there is a darker, more introspective side to their music. If the 90s Britpop influence is obvious, it wasn't only grotesque,stadium anthems that propelled bands like Blur and Pulp to stardom, but also the qualities of malaise and unease in their music after two or three unambiguous hits. This applies equally to these Belgians.
Their third album, Think Ringo is available in the benelux from 1 February 2010 and was once again produced by Gareth Parton (The Go! Team, Foals, Pete And The Pirates, Beta Band, Killers, Rakes, among many others) and recorded in London and Belgium. It follows <.> ('Dot'), the 2006 album which saw the group reach maturity and achieve part of their artistic ambitions. Think Ringo is the logical continuation of the last album, musically it’s somewhere between slag pop (the Dirty Pretty Things-like 'Battle of the Bands' and the sprightly 'Love' ...), a mix of tormented dreams ( 'Residents of the Lost Club') and mild paranoia for nights that won’t last ('Think Ringo’). One step closer to the heights of glory for a band whose easy-going appearance conceals insidious melodies and devastating cynicism.