Album of the Day

Formed by students in Wigan, England, in the late 1990s, Starsailor wound up on EMI’s Chrysalis imprint following a bidding war sparked by a rave review of one of their London gigs. The band’s debut for the label, LOVE IS HERE, arrived in 2001 and is one of the gems of the post-Brit-pop era. Frontman James Walsh chose the title as something “uplifting and positive, because everything around at the moment seems to have quite a cynical edge,” and these 11 originals feature rich melodies and acoustic textures that drew comparisons to Coldplay and Travis. In “Good Souls” and “Poor Misguided Fool,” the quartet came up with two instant classics, and LOVE IS HERE reached #2 on the U.K. album chart and Platinum sales status there.