sStayne is the solo project of 25-yearold Sander Steneker, a musician who’s
contributed widely in de Frysian music
scene. He’s previously been the frontman
of grunge rockband Quiet as Always, as wel
as fulfilling a wide variety of roles in other,
more temporary bands. On top of this,
Sander is an active member of Studio 8501
Indie in Joure, where aside from helping
clients make their music, he also gets to
realise his own.
His next goal is to really work on his own
artistry, releasing the single “I never left”
earlier, in September of 2023.
A song he’s
completely thought up and worked out,
so he could fully work his own vision into
reality without any concessions, aside
from the drums, which have been credited
to Neil Arts. Following this release he’s
gone back into the studio to work on his
next, and upcoming project: his debut
album “Start Again”.
The album starts off with the single “Off
my way”, which was previously released on
the 13th of September. It is a song about
staying steadfast in an ever changing
world, and choosing your own path
regardless of external critiques which will
always be a part of doing your own thing.
Off My Way is one of the harder songs
on the album, boasting enough dynamic
range to let loose all those energy and
frustration you might have cropped up
along the way.
Following in second is the song “Differ”.
A very calm acoustic song to find back your
calm with. This song is about the male
norm of presenting yourself as strong
and masculine, and therefore not show
too much emotion. I’m rather convinced
anyone should be able to share their
emotional baggage to get it off their
shoulders, regardless of how “manly” one
might be.
The third song on the album is called
“Nowhere”. This is a very personal song
about feelings of becoming stationary,
regardless of the very rational thoughts
of what you’ve already accomplished. The
song ranges from calm and dark parts, to a
catchy chorus, carried by a guitar riff that
ties it all together nicely
The fourth song is
called “Rise”. This
is the oldest song
on the album, and
it’s finally found
it’s place among
my works. It’s a
slow building song, that goes from a very
small acoustic intro, slowly into harder
stuff until it arrives at a lovely riffrock-ish
breakdown. The lyrics are about wanting
to see the best in people, whereas most
people like to emphasize the worst of
them.
After this is the fifth song: “Slow down”.
This is a song about the downsides of my
enthusiasm, with which quite often I seem
to move a little too quickly. Especially
when getting to know people you might
immediately be excited about, it’s
sometimes better to just slow it down a
bit. The song itself is a nice semi-acoustic
alternative rock track.
For the sixth song I’ve selected “I never
left”, which was previously released on
the 29th of September last year.
It’s about
letting go of something or someone close,
but also cherishing the memories that
come along with it. For the album I’ve
cleaned up the production of this song a
bit, hopefully making way for some more
positive thoughts to come back into it.
Then we get to the seventh track, and
likewise the title track of the album: “Start
again”. This song is about the fleetingness
of life, as well as the lifespan of projects.
Not everything comes to a good end, but
everything could get a nice start.
With this album and this song I’d like to
give this sStayne project a lovely start, and
hopefully complete the first few steps into
making something wonderful from it.
Following as the eighth song, earlier
released on the 5th of Juli, is “Who you’ll
be”. A song in which regrets about past
events, come together with hopes for the
future. It essentially describes “a chance to
do better”
After this calmth is our ninth song
“Company”. A song much more influenced
by grunge, and it’s much harder and longer
than the rest of the album has been.
This song is about the different stages of
processing a past relationship. It takes
you on a journey from fighting back, to
accepting what is, into looking at what’s
ahead.
Track ten is called “Zoned out”, and it’s
exactly what you’d think it’s about. It’s
about missing out on opportunities and
progressions you could’ve had, due to
daydreaming, but it’s also about not being
alone in this whole thing. Not everyone
is familiar with being “zoned out”, but
everyone who is will recognize exactly
what I mean by this one. This song has a
bit of a darker undertone, but it explodes
wonderfully at the end of it.
Closing out the album on track eleven is
the song “Sleepless nights”.
A more jambased song, which keeps adding layers
towards the ever closing end of the album.
This song describes the blossoming of
something new, where the growing amount
of layers represent the depths some things
might reach. With this it is also a very
fitting closer to this album.
sStayne’s album “Start Again” will be
released on October 18th on all big
streaming platforms, accompanied by
an album release in Sander’s Hometown
of Sint Nicolaasga, during the event of
“Helden fan Hjir”, of which Sander is a coorganizer in this edition.
Also, to be able to present the music
during this album release show, aswell
as on festivals and other similar settings,
sStayne has recently become a live band
too. This band consists of Sander Steneker
on guitar and vocals, Shaun Tiggelman on
bass guitar and Neil Arts on drums. With
just the three men it will be impossible to
equal the productions made in the studio,
which means the live versions of the songs
might get a whole new dynamic which will
be very exciting.
Quelle: Annerike van de Straat
Label: © Records DK
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