Ashley Stacey – ‘The Sun Still Shines on You’

When you listen to this album it really does feel like the sun does still shine on you. 

The album has a very peculiar feel for its title, almost an 80s rock vibe. Honestly, I could genuinely see every single one of these songs on guitar hero. This perfectly cultivated rock vibe gives the artist, Ashley Stacey, likenesses to a favourite band of mine, The Black Keys. But the main thing to note about the atmosphere orchestrated here, it’s almost liquid; I mean in the sense that you can almost feel every note flow through your blood giving life to each and every cell it can reach.

‘The Sun Still Shines on You’ has a clear indie vibe and this is bloody good indie music. You can clearly see the artists influences throughout with “Before the Afternoon” reminding me so much of the Beatles I started hearing it in a Scouse accent. Ok maybe not, but the vocals to this track in particular, are quality. Ashley’s voice is very soft sounding and relaxing, adding to the impressive instrumental he has managed to conjure up – my favourite on the album by far!

This album has so many good points it would be impossible to mention them all, but I’d like to go back to the aforementioned vocals. Vocals which are so raw with talent you fear for the throat. With a voice like this the sky really is the limit but we have seen great voices silenced before. Take for instance Sam Fender, a man with a similar range to Ashley who hardly ever gets to show it live. But Ashley’s voice really does have a special talent few artists are born with and the way it spreads through a room truly makes it a voice to keep an eye on.

‘Breakdown’ is another great song on the album, providing us with a heavier sound. The heavy drums and more aggressive tone of the guitar immediately grab the attention of the listener. ‘This Time…’ also provides us with a mouth watering solo and arguably the most catchy chorus on the album. It is 4 minutes and 25 seconds of your life were you will feel pure euphoria!

The first half of the album rather more sinister than the last, but this provides us, the listeners, with an understanding of the complete range Ashley Stacey has to offer and I wouldn’t be surprised to see his name at the top of festival bills in years to come

Words by Sam Cooke