stephenhero
57 stars of the air almanac
© 2007 Patrick Fitzgerald (634479601958)
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Patrick Fitzgerald (ex Kitchens of Distinction) makes a truly welcome return as one of the UK's original maverick heroes.
tracks
- 1 12 Stars
- 2 Open Blue Skies
- 3 Early Astronomy
- 4 Back to Bed
- 5 Oh, Frank
- 6 58th Star
- 7 A Death in June
- 8 Crazed, Full of Hope
- 9 Welcome Home!
- 10 Other Men's Flowers
- 11 The Polar Bear's
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stephenhero is Patrick Fitzgerald, former singer/bass player and co-songwriter with Kitchens of Distinction. KOD were sonic constructionists from the early 90's UK Indie scene, who, over 4 albums on One Little Indian Records, mixed the roar of stratospheric guitars with the ache from Fitzgerald's big gay heart. Following their implosion in 1996 Patrick went on to do more music. And more.
In 1997 came Patrick's first solo album, 'Hark at Her' under the guise of Fruit, a riotous pop affair featuring collaborators from his London music mates David McAlmont, Miki Berenyi, Isobel Monteiro and legendary producer Pascal Gabriel. In 1998/99 he collaborated with another London friend, 4AD singer/songwriter Heidi Berry, on the Lost Girls - a hybrid of ethereal folk pop and sneering rock. They released one favourably received single 'Needle's Eye' and recorded an album yet to be released. One day?
In 1999 Patrick moved from London to the Irish wilds of Connemara to purify his soul and pursue the heart of noise. Here he wrote and recorded the first two stephenhero records and released them on his own Ragoora Records. 'Landed' was released in 2000 and 'Lullaby' in 2001. These took the bare bones of KOD's songwriting hallmarks and moulded them anew with drum machines, samplers and, of course, effected guitars. His themes moved from an isolated urban anger to a search for new shores, away from a world that had merely shrugged rather than fallen truly in love.
In 2002 came 'Darkness and the Day' a full-length album on Artful Records. Here were 13 intentionally pop and populist songs that featured once more the dulcet tones of David McAlmont along with American friend and cohort Mark Mulcahy.
Inbetween there were explorations in theatre and film music. Firstly, Patrick collaborated with Welsh experimentalists Volcano Theatre and scored two shows. He then co-wrote and performed in Volcano's 'This Imaginary Woman' with Volcano founder Fern Smith. This was selected for inclusion in the month-long British Council showcase at the Edinburgh Festival 2003 and toured the UK, Ireland and Malta. He then scored an Irish play, Christian O'Reilly's 'The Good Father' produced for Druid Theatre Company by TONY award winning Garry Hynes, which received wide critical acclaim and toured Ireland to sold-out houses before being broadcast on RTE1. In film he scored maverick video director John Hardwick's debut full-length feature '33x around the sun' - an unworldly nightmarish update of Orpheus in the (East End) Underworld - before scoring Paul Catling's robot-sex film 'TOMO' which won Best International Short Film at Sundance 2004.
Now? Patrick is living in Manchester, England where he has written and recorded '57 stars of the air almanac'.
With this album, his first for five years, Patrick has spliced the trademark sound of Kitchens of Distinction with a new musicality garnered from his successful work in the Theatre and Film industries. Driven by the piano influences of 1970's Elton John, swept through and embellished with his own trademark acoustic/electric guitar sounds and lyrically continuing to explore Patrick's esoteric path of stellar interests, poetic references and dreamlike realities that have made him one of the UK's finest and most highly regarded independent songwriters, this album marks a truly welcome return to one of the UK's original maverick heroes.
Summer 2007
reviews
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Top review in Irish Sunday red-top.
author: stephenheroHQThe Irish Star on Sunday Fans of Interpol and The Editors should check out Stephen Hero’s new album 57 Stars of the Air Almanac. Hero is the alias of Patrick Fitzgerald, ex-lead singer of ‘90’s act Kitchens of Distinction, whose swirling guitars and vocal delivery have been shamelessly lifted by Tom Smith and Co. Despite being a solo outing from Fitzgerald, this is something of a KoD reunion with ex-guitarist Julian Swales contributing to Early Astronomy. Elsewhere the former doctor and some-time Sligo resident, trades in the kind of melancholy beloved of Scottish band The Blue Nile. Highly recommended. Ken Sweeney Sunday September 9th 2007
Great review in Ireland's main broadsheet.
author: The Irish TimesHaving moved to the solitude of Connemara some years ago, former Kitchens of Distinction frontman Patrick Fitzgerald has found a new home in Manchester, but he's holding on to his Joycean nom de plume. 57 Stars, his fourth and sonically richest album under the Stephen Hero moniker, finds our lonely hero marrying plangent piano lines with big, epic indie beats. You can join the dots back to the dark cabaret of Kurt Weill and the elegiac early work of The Blue Nile, but also to the apocalyptic alt.pop of Editors. Open Blue Skies, Early Astronomy and 58th Star look to the heavens while A Death in June, Oh Frank and Other Men's Flowers search the gutter. There's a theatricality to the tunes, a consequence of Hero's recent dabbling in soundtracking films and plays, which adds a Scott Walker-esque flourish to these songs of doomed hearts and dark imaginings. Kevin Courtney Issue August 17, 2007 (The Ticket)
Top ranking review in the UK's main weekend broadsheet.
author: The Times (UK)The era of Interpol, Editors and Bloc Party is as good a time as any for Patrick Fitzgerald, aka Stephenhero (one of James Joyce’s leading characters), to release his first album in five years, especially given the fact the that his underrated band Kitchens of Distinction helped to refine the template in the late 1980s and early 1990s. After four solo albums of stripped-down folk, he has gone back to a band sound (self-played except for the drums) based around piano rather than guitar. What he has ended up with is an edgier version of Elton John’s early 1970s albums. Early Astronomy and Oh, Frank recall KoD’s soaring brand of sensitivity, but this subtle and spacious record is one of the year’s finest. Martin Aston Issue August 4-10 (The Knowledge, page 22)
Former Kitchens Of Distinction mainman's stellar return.
author: MOJO MagazineSo uncannily do Interpol and Editors recall the signature epic emo-scapes of Kitchens Of Distinction that one readily imagines erstwhile members of that undervalued '80s/'90s south London trio ruminating bitterly on the concept of intellectual copyright. Not singer/bassist Patrick Fitzgerald, however, who has forged a successful new musical identity as a composer for theatre and film, while gradually priming his Stephen Hero alias for great things. 57 stars... is an 'adult' work in the old-fashioned sense, with material as evocative of Stephen Sondheim's opaque psychodramas as any contemporary touchstones. while also gently reclaiming 'his' sound over a mighty opening trio of portentous piano balladry; KoD guitarist Julian Swales contributes trademark iridescent vastness to Early Astronomy. Heartfelt and exotic - closer The Polar Bears sees its protagonist subjected to an ursine dissection - here's proud validation of a most distinctive voice. Keith Cameron Issue 166 September 2007 (Rolling Stones cover, page 110)