Straddling the fine line between indie rock and Britpop, Sebastian Straw presents his new single ‘My Friend’, a catchy song that foreshadows the album ‘Welcome Yesterday’, to be released in mid-October via Seahorse Recordings.
His lyrics are both emotional and serious. ‘My Friend’ tells the story of a dear and trusted comrade – both humble and stubborn, vying to face his difficulties alone, silently declining any help from his friends.
This single, one of 11 tracks on this long-play, is accompanied by yet another solid track, entitled ‘Happy People Shine’. The full album was produced, mixed and mastered by Paolo Messere at Seahorse Recordings Studio in Marsala.
Based in Italy, his music presents a mix between Noel Gallagher and Richard Ashcroft, reveling in an imaginary tug-of-war between Liverpool, London and Manchester. With a style that is uniquely his, his works are sometimes melancholic, but full of harmonic touches with plenty of distorted electric and acoustic guitar, pianos and keyboards.
Sebastian has always been an atypical frontman, with a calm but brazen attitude on stage. Shadowy and shy, in life as in music, inseparable from his Jazzmaster and his acoustic guitar, he writes his music in the intimacy of the night hours. When the city sleeps, the mix of the most beautiful and ugliest thoughts becomes perfect.
Well known on the local music scene, having played for a long time in a local band, Sebastian Straw is branching out on a solo trajectory. In his music, he draws strength by channeling anger, disappointment and suffering into goodness through his music. Lost friends, disappointments, people who lacked faith in him – oddly enough, the worst experiences bring out the best in him, contributing positively to his growth as a man and an artist.
From an early age, Sebastian has had to overcome obstacles on his music path. Taking up piano at age 8, he soon learned that making mistakes brought negative repercussions, so eventually pursued other instruments, like drums and guitars in parallel. In his teens, he fronted various local bands. From 20 he worked and studied in Rome and Florence, while dabbling in music, leading to his 2003 victory as ‘Best Voice’ in the “I Have a Dream” music competition. A healthcare specialist with an agenda divided between hospital work and other activities, recent personal problems propelled him to resume his musical career, more determined than ever before.
“The lyrics on this album are autobiographical but anybody can read a bit of their own lives in them. We all – at least once – have fallen and got up on our feet again. Somehow we have found the strength to face our biggest problems without running away by seeking shelter somewhere we feel safe, still facing reality, proud of who we are today and how we arrived here. It was hard but if I look back I still manage to smile. This is where my album ‘Welcome Yesterday’ comes from,” says Sebastian Straw.
‘Welcome Yesterday’ will be released on October 18 and will be available across digital stores and streaming platforms.
TRACK LIST
01 Just Like Yourself
02 My Friend
03 Already Late
04 Happy People Shine
05 Lucky Boring
06 Walk Towards The Sun
07 Better Than Before
08 Maybe Together
09 Alive Two
10 Will You Regret It
11 Beautiful Place
CREDITS
Music and lyrics by Sebastian Straw
Recorded, mixed & mastered at Seahorse Recordings Studio
Mixed, mastered and produced by Paolo Messere
Arranged by Sebastian Straw and Paolo Messere
Vocals, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, bass guitar (track 7), piano, keyboards by Sebastian Straw
Drums by Abele Gallo
Bass guitar, percussion, lead electric guitar (track 1, track 4), backing vocals (track 10), drums (track 2, track 11), and keyboard (track 3) by Paolo Messere
Portrait photos by Jessica Noce. Landscape photos by Luca Faustinella
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