Trembling Blue Stars was the

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-based band music project of Robert Wratten, started in 1996. Later consisting of Harvey Williams, Jonathan Akerman, Keris Howard, Michael Hiscock, and Beth Arzy who replaced Annemari Davies in 2000. Initially begun as a

side project In popular music, a side project is a project undertaken by one or more people already known for their involvement in another band. It can also be an artist or a band temporarily switching to a different style. Usually these projects emphasize ...

of Wratten's previous band Northern Picture Library, Trembling Blue Stars became Wratten's main band when Northern Picture Library broke up in 1995. Wratten took the name of his band from ''

The Story of O ''Story of O'' (, ) is an erotic novel written by French author Anne Desclos under the pen name Pauline Réage, with the original French text published in 1954 by Jean-Jacques Pauvert. Desclos did not reveal herself as the author until 1994, ...

'' by

Pauline Réage Anne Cécile Desclos (23 September 1907 – 27 April 1998) was a French literary critic, journalist, and novelist who wrote under the pen names Dominique Aury and Pauline Réage. She is best known for her erotic novel ''Story of O'' (1954). E ...

. Trembling Blue Stars are characterized by melancholic songs with shimmering guitars and introspective lyrics. Many of their early lyrics address Wratten's relationship with Annemari Davies, who had been in The Field Mice and Northern Picture Library with him. The first Trembling Blue Stars album, '' Her Handwriting'', was released in 1996 on

Shinkansen Recordings Sarah Records was a British independent record label active in Bristol between 1987 and 1995, best known for its recordings of indie pop, which it released mostly on 7" singles. On reaching the catalogue number SARAH 100, the label celebrated i ...

(the successor of

Sarah Records Sarah Records was a British independent record label active in Bristol between 1987 and 1995, best known for its recordings of indie pop, which it released mostly on 7" singles. On reaching the catalogue number SARAH 100, the label celebrated i ...

), to critical acclaim. Wratten afterwards assembled a band, which at various times included Davies, Gemma Townley, Cath Carroll and Ian Catt, as well as Michael Hiscock, Keris Howard (previously of the Sarah Records-era band Brighter) and Harvey Williams. Producer Ian Catt has worked on every Trembling Blue Stars release. ''Lips That Taste of Tears'', the band's second album, was released in April 1997. The album received acclaim again, although the group proved reluctant to tour extensively. ''Broken By Whispers'', their third long player, was released in 2000 and saw them getting more press and radio play. "Dark Eyes" was voted Single of the Week on Mark Radcliffe's show on

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. The overall mood was melancholic, but ''Broken By Whispers'' saw the band experimenting with more bass and synth sounds. Indeed, this album was picked up by

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Sub Pop Records Sub or SUB may refer to: Places * Juanda International Airport, Surabaya, Indonesia, IATA code SUB People * Bottom (BDSM), or "sub" for "submissive" * Substitute teacher Christianity * Sub tuum praesidium, an ancient hymn and prayer dedicated ...

and gave the band their first release in

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. They also recorded a live session on the

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...

show in 2001. In 2001, Trembling Blue Stars released ''Alive To Every Smile'', which still featured Annemari Davies on vocals, along with Beth Arzy. The album was widely acclaimed and added more synth and beats, notably to one of their best known songs, "The Ghost of an Unkissed Kiss", which combined a dance-pop sensibility with more traditional indie sounds. Multiple EP releases appeared in between albums. The band also gathered together singles for the compilation ''A Certain Evening Light'' in 2003. In 2005, their fifth album ''The Seven Autumn Flowers'' was released on

Bar/None Records Bar/None Records is an independent record label based in Hoboken, New Jersey. Early history Tom Prendergast started Bar/None in early 1986 in Hoboken, New Jersey. Having previously worked in pirate radio, booking and promoting bands in his n ...

in both the USA and UK after a break with Shinkansen. A brief mini-tour of the US in late 2005 promoted it. Their sixth album ''The Last Holy Writer'' was released through

Elefant Records Elefant Records is an independent record label based in Madrid, Spain. History Elefant Records was founded in 1989 by Luis Calvo as an offshoot of a fanzine he produced called "La Línea del Arco". In 2014, the label's 25th anniversary was celebr ...

in 2007, with tracks from it featured in the Australian feature film '' The Sculptor''. Trembling Blue Stars issued their seventh album ''Fast Trains and Telegraph Wires'' in October 2010, but split at the end of that year following the release of a final farewell EP, ''Correspondence''.

Discography

Albums

*'' Her Handwriting'', April 1996 *''Lips That Taste of Tears'', February 1998 *''Broken by Whispers'', February 2000 *''Alive to Every Smile'', October 2001 *''The Seven Autumn Flowers'', January 2005 *''The Last Holy Writer'', April 2007 *''Fast Trains and Telegraph Wires'', October 2010

EPs/Singles

*''ABBA on the Jukebox'', 1996 *''The Rainbow'', November 1997 *''Dark Eyes'', October 1999 *''Doo-Wop Music'', 1999 *''She Just Couldn't Stay'', January 2000 *''Ghost of an Unkissed Kiss'', September 2001 *''Slow Soft Sighs'', April 2002 *''Southern Skies Appear Brighter'', June 2004 *''Bathed In Blue'', March 2005 *''Beautiful Blank'', 2007 *''Exploring the Shadows'', November 2007 *''Correspondence'', 2011

Anthologies

*''A Certain Evening Light'', June 2003

Side Projects

The Occasional Keepers, ''The Beauty of an Empty Vessel'', 2005 Love Goes On (Tribute to Grant McLennan), November 2007 Future Conditional, ''We Don't Just Disappear'', 2007 The Occasional Keepers, ''True North'', 2008

References

External links

MySpace page
* ttp://www.bar-none.com/trembling-blue-stars?rq=trembling%20blue%20stars Trembling Blue Stars biography by Michael Hill of Bar None Recordsbr>Trembling Blue Stars at LTM
{{Authority control English indie pop groups Pop music groups from London Bar/None Records artists Elefant Records artists