Dark Star – risen from the ashes of Levitation.

Dark Star to start the week – a session from BBC 6 Music in March of 1999.

Dark Star  formed in 1996 in London. The band was composed of vocalist/guitarist Christian Hayes, drummer David Francolini and bassist Laurence O’Keefe.

All three members of Dark Star had been members of the psychedelic rock band Levitation between 1990 and 1994, with David Francolini also previously having played with Something Pretty Beautiful and The Blue Aeroplanes, Christian Hayes with Cardiacs, Ring, Panixphere and The Dave Howard Singers, and Laurence O’Keefe with The Jazz Butcher. Following the demise of Levitation, Hayes began working with Heather Nova and All About Eve‘s Julianne Regan and O’Keefe collaborated with Dead Can Dance‘s Brendan Perry, whilst Francolini stopped playing due to disillusionment with the music industry (although he did help Scottish band Octopus get signed to Food Records and produced their debut album From A to B).

In 1996, Francolini suggested to Hayes and O’Keefe that the three of them should start working together again, stating that “there was always this sense of unfinished business”. The trio booked a studio and started rehearsing the day after they went to see Sonic Youth play at The Forum in Kentish Town in April that year. After advertising for and auditioning several singers including Daisy Chainsaw and Queenadreena guitarist Crispin Gray, Hayes took over vocals. Francolini commented that the singers they auditioned “seemed to suck the power out of it… it was weird. Really good people we worked with, you know? But once they opened their gob, it was like the power of the group was gone”.

The band first signed a publishing deal with Warner/Chappell Music. When the A&R scout they were dealing with there moved to work at EMI, their first action in their new job was to sign the band.

The band released their debut album, Twenty Twenty Sound on 21 June 1999. Produced by Steve Lillywhite, the album was recorded live, with Hayes stating that the band “recorded it all live so basically we just got in there, set up and did what we always do and got the best take. It’s the best way to record a record really. If you haven’t seen us live you may not think that, but it’s exactly like we play it—there’s no overdubs. It’s basically what we do, it’s what we play”. Francolini described the band’s sound as “Levitation, with all the chrome stripped off and painted matt black”, with Hayes stating that he personally thought they sounded “like Hawkwind and The Pixies“. The album was followed by re-releases of “Graceadelica” and “I Am The Sun” (albeit in remixed form), which gave the band two Top 40 UK Singles Chart hits.

Following the promotional and touring cycle of Twenty Twenty Sound, the band recorded two tracks with record producer and remixer Danny Saber (who remixed “Graceadelica” for single release) in Los Angeles. Seemingly scrapping that session, the band entered the studio later that year to record their second album. Songs including “Roman Road”, “The Last Thing She Ever Said”, “Clicky” and “Three Seconds” were played during the band’s shows in 2000 including festival dates such as Reading and Leeds Festivals and T In The Park as well as a live show recorded for STV show Boxed Set.

Despite lead-off single Strangers And Madmen being premiered on the BBC Radio 1 show The Evening Session, the band parted ways with EMI shortly after. Commenting on the split with EMI, Francolini later revealed that the band “experienced losing a couple of key players who left the company and that coupled with the fact that we resolutely towed our own musical line, led to the parting of the ways”.

A new record deal was tentatively sought, however the band subsequently split in 2001 with no announcement, to pursue different projects. The single and album were left unreleased until 2023.

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In the meantime. . .