Track 2 - “Stars”
Title: “Stars”Artist: Amy Meyer
Release Date: September 6, 2014
Length: 4:51
Format: CD Single, Digital Download, 7” Single, Weekly Airplay
Recorded: August 2014 - Half-Moon Studios, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Genre: Pop-Rock, Piano Rock, Alternative Rock
Label: Kaleidescope Records
Writer(s): Amy Meyer
Producer(s): Amy Meyer
“Stars” is the second solo single released from American musician ‘Amy Meyer’. Best known as the lead singer of the multi-platinum rock group ‘Riot! In The Boulevard’, she has recently ventured into the dangerous situation that is known as the post-band solo career which in history has shown that it’s often not the greatest idea. Her first solo effort ‘Freefalling’ failed to ignite any real amount of interest, failing to receive any real recognition in the industry and stalling in the middle of the top twenty charts, this could have been down to a number of possible aspects, lack of promotion and the post-Riot! Hangover seemingly the main reasons for this, but there has also been rumours that a lot of Riot! Fans will shy away from Meyer’s solo work as she appears to be interested in broadening her genre horizons beyond the rock scene that she specialized in as the frontwoman of the hugely succesfull band. Instead she appears to be more interested in using the emotive and melodic nature of the piano keys in a way to share her current muses, much in the same way as somebody like ‘Christina Perri’ or perhaps even ‘Avril Lavigne’ has done in recent years.
“Stars” follows on the heels of previous effort “Freefalling”, the later showcasing the musicians songwriting ability beyond Riot! And giving a real glimpse into the inner workings of one the more popular musicians in recent memory. “Stars” showcases her ability to use simple imagery to get her point across, although it feels more like a Riot! Song than her first solo single, it certainly feels like we’re beginning to see the all-round ability of Meyer as she attemps to break-free from the shackles that Riot!’s legacy still clearly carry.
The song was written between July and August 2014 by Amy Meyer while finishing up the final dates of Riot!s world tour and the track was recorded at the end of August following their final show in London earlier that month. The track like the majority of Meyer’s work was recorded at the studio designed by herself called ‘Half-Moon Studios’ in her hometown of Las Vegas, Nevada.
The single will be the first to be released by Amy Meyer under contract at Kaleidescope Records. She recently signed her first ever solo record deal at the label and confirmed in a recent interview that she plans to begin work on her solo album now that a label is in place for her to release her solo music. The track is likely to mark the beginning of her debut album process and is likely to be seen as the hype or lead single from the record with “Freefalling” being seen more as a promo single. The track comes in at just under five minutes in length and will be made available as a CD Single, Digital Download, 7” Single and will also be made available to weekly airplay. The track was written and produced entirely by Amy Meyer as well as the instrumentals and composition being entirely created and crafted solely by Amy Meyer. The song will see it’s release date on the weekend of September 6, 2014.
Rolling Stone Review“It’s highly difficult to speak about Amy Meyer without mentioning Riot!, this could of course bring it’s own problems as the former lead singer of the band begins prepping her solo career. She comes out of the blocks fighting with her lead single “Stars” showing that the songwriting ability and voice that many fell in love with is still very much intact. But this moves away from the energy of Riot! And into a new territory, where the piano is this melancholic backdrop to a cavalcade of wisdom by the still only 21 year old musician. She shows wisdom beyond her years and seems to be embracing and relishing this voice of her generation role that she seems to have, the songs opening verse with the line ‘Perhaps we’re just a little too close to the image to really see the bigger picture’ it’s simplistic but it works well especially as the prelude to the following line, ‘Because when you’re young your heart seems more wilder and free/And as you age you learn to only let the good ones in’ the reason that the line truly works is because of the soothing nature of Amy’s voice on the track, you put together that combination of lyrics, vocals and throw in the pianos melody and you’ve got an emotive song.
This is why as her first solo effort, it works in moving away from her legacy with the band and into this new chapter. But shades of Riot! Do emerge as the song progressive, the refrain of ‘So take a chance, take a risk, on a moment, just like this’ sung repetitively is enough to bring back memories of Riot’s breakthough and the catchy lyrics found on their self-titled debut. As the band grew, the lyrics moved away from that but with this refrain, it helps to bring back that same feeling that you felt listening to their debut and this is easily the most catchy song Amy has written since that debut album three years ago. Lyrically the song is very good, perhaps not quite up there with Amy’s best written work but vocally she delivers the words with the soothing emotion that they dictate and for that reason, it’s a great new start”
Songwriters Comments“It’s an unusual feeling to be talking about my first real solo effort, but it’s a nice feeling in a way. When we first started I just so myself as part of Riot! With my buddies, I didn’t really think about the possibility of making music on my own, probably because it was and still is a very scaring thought for me. But here we are and it’s a completely different challenge, it certainly doesn’t feel like the way it did with Riot!, although towards the end of our run there it did begin to get a little mundane for us. I think the time was right for us to draw a line over things for now, simply because I think we were out of ideas and consistency is great but you have to evolve these days and it’s not always the easiest thing to do in the music industry.
But here we are and it’s my first real effort with my solo music, of course some of you may have heard the demo track “Freefalling”, there was no intentions with that song, I wrote it and I felt like the song said everything that I needed to say at that time and that was really the main reason for me putting out that demo, now I have this song and this is the indication of where I’m gonna go with my music as a solo artist and I’m quite pleased with the results.
There will always be that cloud of Riot! That hangs over all three of us with Adam and Jason I think they have the right ideas, step away from it completely. Adam’s solo music is so completely different from Riot! That it’s not a question that’s looming over him right now and Jason has stepped out of it completely for now. The fact that it was my voice that you heard when you listened to Riot! Makes it a little more tricky for me to step out on my own, because I have that exact same voice and so you’ll feel at times like my solo music and Riot’s are connected but I’ve just got to create music that I believe in and I think the move away from that energetic rock sound will help in some ways. It feels good to hear just a voice and a piano on this song, it’s not something that I explored in any real depth with the band and so I see this opportunity as one where I can go places that I wouldn’t have with Riot!.
Hopefully you enjoy it! Xxx”
Lyrics“Maybe there’s a reason why we were all built this way
And perhaps we’re just a little too close to the image to really see the bigger picture
Because when you’re young your heart seems more wilder and free
And as you age you learn to only let the good ones in
Because somewhere along the way, life taught us how to be more guarded
And we protect our hearts with all of our might
But emptiness doesn’t keep us warm in the dead of night
And before you know it
It feels like life has passed us all
And you’re just left
With only your shadow on the bedroom wall
It can be tricky to find the right path
To let yourself be open to the possibilities that may come your way
And it can be heard to learn to love after pain
But you can’t hide away for fear of having those wounds opened up again
And all you want to do is have it all figured out
Although you feel voiceless
It doesn’t mean that you should go through this drought
So take a chance, take a risk
On a moment, just like this
Take a chance, take a risk
On a moment, just like this
Just take a chance, take a risk
On a moment, just like this
We’re all born as tiny little twinkles
Glimmering with hope and beauty and possibility
And sometimes life tries it’s best to take away that sparkle
But inside you is where it always remains
And when the time comes for you
You could learn to love again
So take a chance, take a risk
On a moment, just like this
Take a chance, take a risk
On a moment, just like this
Just take a chance, take a risk
On a moment, just like this
A moment of pure bliss
And when you find yourself lost in the darkness and despair
Remember it’s only in the black of night that you see the stars up there
And they’ll forever shine down on you
For as long as you’re breathing
They’ll be with you
As long as you’re breathing
Your inner star will never be leaving”
