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Nov 04, 2013 Web Exclusive By Neil Halstead, Mark Van Hoen, and Nick Holton

For our Track-by-Track feature, we go in-depth with an artist about each song on their new album. For this Track-by-Track we are featuring Black Hearted Brother‘s debut album,Stars Are Our Home. Black Hearted Brother is a new band featuring Neil Halstead (Slowdive, Mojave 3), Mark Van Hoen (Seefeel, Locust, Scala), and Nick Holton (Holton’s Opulent Oog). Halstead, Van Hoen, and Holton have co-written commentary for us on all of the album’s songs. Stars Are Our Home was released on October 22 by Slumberland.

“Stars Are Our Home”

This was maybe the first tune we had. Very quick to make, recorded live with Tam [Johnstone] on drums at Neil’s studio (an old RAF base in Cornwall). Guitars being thrown about in Nick’s old “Oaki Room” studio (an oak building on stilts in Hambleden, Buckinghamshire) whilst effects and distortion are mucked about with by someone else on the floor and then finally over to Mark in Woodstock for all the synths. It has an unnerving ability to make you drive really fast when played really loud.

“This Is How It Feels”

A great organic process. Some rough bits from another unfinished song became the backbone. As elsewhere, we had fun with the idea of looping pieces, cutting up, jamming to form these trippy structures. We really went to town on the chorus with many backing vocals and guitars. We wanted it to completely fill any speaker with an aural assault, to which Nick then added the Al Green-type vocal last of all. So it goes from here to there and then finally to this long outro with Neil’s Neil Young-like solo joined by the sad dying melody. It is like our mini-epic or “Good Vibrations” in a sense, as it keeps changing and evolving and booby-trapping your expectations.

”(I Don’t Mean to) Wonder”

Original pieces came from a similar time as “This Is How It Feels.” Over the years we have always been knocking about ideas which sometimes become songs on our own albums and sometimes are left in limbo (or deep space). We originally wrote quite an annoying song to this and then a year later stripped it back, looped and cut it up and found something way more psychedelic and interesting. It was at the last stages when Neil, who hadn’t been involved for a bit, had the idea of putting the end at the beginning and then, trotting off into the live room in his Cornish studio only to return wielding his axe, he put the massive beautiful guitars down in three straight takes.

“Got Your Love”

Mark created this epic intro and outro to “Got Your Love” which actually features a massive (and it is massive) hammer from Brooklyn as the pulsing percussion. The track is really the poppiest song on the album with a huge kick drum, big guitars and Neil’s catchy melody. (We started some songs on tape, some on Pro Tools but this was maybe on GarageBand.)

“If I Was There to Change Your Mind”

At times we were randomly placing parts by us all onto a canvas, as in this case, to which we had Ian’s drums and Mark’s low synth line leading the way. Nick sang the part in a first take and without having pre-planned the words in a stream of consciousness, something he had luckily pulled off before. From there it didn’t take long for Neil to place the dark stoner-rock guitars and Mark in Woodstock to turn this into a dark slab of space rock.

“UFO”

Based on a hilarious story about middle-aged Hillary and her friend reminiscing in a newspaper about being abducted by aliens when they were teenagers. An upbeat track with great drumming once again from Tam and big harmonies.

“Time In the Machine”

Started by a loop from Neil’s foot peddle and then jammed over with drums and bass. It really gets massive in places with out-of-tune keyboards and guitars. Actually the only outing for Neil’s beloved Roland RS09, which also died during the take. Oh, it burned very brightly, if only for five minutes and 28 seconds and then was gone forever. The result is another good slice of space rock BHB-style.

“Oh Crust”

The quickest track to be made. In part our homage to Silver Apples, or at least the idea of that great band-no bass, massive energy, big drums and loads of keyboards. Planned to call it “Serpents in the Blood” rather than “Oh Crust” which was a kind of comment or exclamation on how long we’d been working on this album, “Oh Crust, We Are Nearly There!”

“Take Heart”

A two way conversation takes center stage in the lyrics for this love song: “God it makes me bitter they think they own this place/Your eyes roll up, they bat and they flicker.” One a little angsty, the other a steadying hand. A massive, almost polished production with some beautiful Cocteau Twins-like guitars by Neil.

“My Baby Sailed Away”

“My Baby Sailed Away” was last to be written and recorded. As with “Oh Crust,” it was stunningly quick to complete. Either we lucked out or by the finish we were getting good at this BHB game. Possibly the most summery song on the album, colored by Mark’s “Sex Machine” guitars and Neil’s synths. All nods along nicely until it takes a dark monstrous turn towards the end that lifts you back into space…but a disco in space.

“I’m Back”

A dark lament sung once again in one take over random noises and shepherded by Mark’s guitars and space noises.

“Look Out Here They Come”

Paul takes some credit for getting this song into life with his bass line that is so catchy. We put that down to a Casio beat with the vocals in Hambleden, then off to Woodstock (U.S.A.) for Mark to add his Orchestron, then finally to Cornwall for Caroline’s drums and the mix. A nice way to round off the record with Neil and Nick both singing a sort of BHB pop anthem that takes you back in part to the UFO element.

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