‘We Are Stars’ “Intersecting the Solar System between Bowie & Kate Bush” Launch, Videos, Photos, Album Reviews + Experience it Live Once Again in April!
March 27, 2024 § Leave a comment
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An album is like a being,
it wants to tell its story,
it wants to reach out, it wants to tell the world what it has to offer.
An album is like a book, songs are its chapters,
the writers, the music workers
shape them into being
and gently lead them out through recordings
and live performances...
‘WE ARE STARS’ OUT NOW
Raf and O We Are Stars Album Launch, St Mark’s Regent’s Park, 21 October 2023 © Marcus Portée
Raf and O We Are Stars Album Launch, St Mark’s Regent’s Park, 21 October 2023. Captured by David Plaice
We’re immensely proud of this album, you can show your support by getting it HERE! We’re very grateful for such wonderful reviews, thank you to all respective writers and publications and to those who purchased the album; ‘We Are Stars’ launched in the beautiful settings of St Mark’s, Regents Park, thirty-two stars peeking down on us, an intimate show. Many thanks to all who came and captured the event, to dear friend Klarita Kaparte for promoting and hosting, Mal Robinson for filming and Marcus Portée who voyaged from Bruxelles to photograph Raf and O We Are Stars Album Launch. Plus, a BIG thanks as always to the Constellationists.
If you missed the launch or fancy some more ‘We Are Stars’ action, we are performing it live online, in two parts on Tuesday 16 April and 23 April 2024, 8pm UK time, tix + links below.
WE ARE STARS (PART 1)
WE ARE STARS (PART 2)
Working on new songs is now a regular happening, the songwriting container is getting drip fed and our Constellation Club is in full swing – the Constellationists are getting to hear these new songs in the making and of course you could be one too. Yearly membership on our Bandcamp merch page includes a handwritten conceptualised book for all the songs of ‘We Are Stars’, access to on going compositions and original art is in the mix too.
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WATCH ‘Still Sitting In Our Time Machines’ Official Video (premiered on God Is In The TV Zine)
WATCH ‘Andy Under Stars’ filmed Live by Mal Robinson at St Mark’s Regent’s Park. ‘Andy Under Stars’ is the story of a homeless character obsessed with Andy Warhol.
“Intersecting the solar system between Bowie & Kate Bush”
GOD IS IN THE TV ZINE
“Raf and O have been purveyors of effervescent, avant-garde pop since 2008 … from apocalyptic, electronica-hued mini-symphonies to elegant, left-field David Bowie covers. ‘We Are Stars’ brings a sense of playfulness … Mischievous and bewitching”
ELECTRONIC SOUND
“The most exquisite album yet from Raf and O…You may remember ‘Tommy Newton’ as David Bowie’s character in the SF masterpiece ‘The Man Who Fell to Earth – in the song Raf gives the perspective of Newton’s lover Mary-Lou…tapping into not only the film character but evoking Bowie himself…from the soulful glam-swagger of ‘Still Sitting in our Time Machines’, through the indie-folk vocal acrobatics of ‘Andy under Stars’ and torch-song delicacy of the title track, to the frenetic 80s synth onslaught of ‘Every Time It’s Bleak, We Dance’…The gorgeous closer, ‘Waterloo’ has the stately progression of a rock ‘n’ roll era ballad…it’s not as if Raf and O simply sound like either Bowie or Bush. As I said, they’ve long sounded like no-one but themselves. It’s what they take from them in attitude, fearlessness: the way Raf’s voice swoops and soars without apparent boundaries”
ARTMUSELONDON
“We Are Stars is an incredible album. Omnipresent throughout, there’s the angular, shredded and bended guitar of Scary Monsters era Robert Fripp and Carlos Alomar, and the strangely interesting progressions of the arty-pop and dress-up of that album. The titular song itself an alternative, stressful The Man Who Fell To Earth soundtrack, yet recalls the influence of Tricky and Portishead. Lou Reed meets Marianne Faithful, Kate Bush meets Jane Birkin, Lene Lovich meets Latin-flavoured Banshees …. Sublime.”
MONOLITH COCKTAIL
“Pop-xotica? Supernatural Folk? Post Prog Punk? One of 2023’s finest”
THE SOAP COMPANY
Come discover ‘WE ARE STARS’
Out on CD + all digital platforms
+
Look forward to perform for you live on
INTER-PLA-NET-LIVE
Love, Raf and O 🌟✨
Back to RAF AND O’S BLOG/ NEWS PAGE
Raf and O Celebrate The Birth Of Their New Album ’We Are Stars’ With A Launch At St Mark’s Regents Park + Gold And Silver Lines: Trails From Constellation Club + Eyeliner Live Video
September 30, 2023 § Leave a comment
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Raf and O ⓒ 2023
Dear all …
we’re inviting you to a special London show.
After many months of writing and producing, we’re bringing to you the new album, our fifth!
Raf and O Launch
‘We Are Stars’
St Marks Regents Park, Saturday 21 October, 3PM
TICKETS
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We Are Stars Album Launch Poster – Design Klarita Kaparte and Raf and O
Multi-faceted and cinematic in inspiration, reflecting our contemporary society flourishing and struggling simultaneously.
Inspired by movies, life and stars, tinged in retro futuristic 50s blues, edgy and anxiety ridden, upbeat, thoughtful and metaphoric,
can be summarised as existential arty poetic visual pop for the 21st century.
From the leading single ‘Still Sitting In Our Time Machines’, a funky retro-futuristic track concerned with our human journey, dealing with themes of science fiction crossing over into modern reality to ‘There’s Nothing I Want More’, edgy angular catchy and existential, to the poignant ‘Waterloo’ – “Wherever we are that’s our place” and the spiralling ‘Cheap Champagne‘. From ‘Tommy Newton’, a love song Raf has written from the perspective of Mary-Lou inspired by The Man Who Fell To Earth (the 1976 science fiction film starring David Bowie and Candy Clark) to ‘Eyeliner’, a story of a young star always ready for the show – “A casualty of pleasure”, but he’s also a catalyst for change, “a dandy of the new world”. From ’Andy Under Stars’ depicting a homeless character heavily obsessed with Andy Warhol to ‘Tear The Page’ inspired by Kill Your Darlings a film on the early days of the beat writers and ‘Altered Reality’, indirectly inspired by The Matrix.
‘Tommy Newton’ earned accolades when it came out in 2021 as footage from Raf and O’s first live performance and was described as intoxicating, reflective, artistic and dramatic by God Is In The TV Zine and spellbinding by Monolith Cocktail
Unravel this and more …
THE WHOLE ALBUM WILL BE PERFORMED LIVE,
A UNIQUE CHANCE, A MATTINEE SHOW, 3PM,
IN THE IDYLLIC SETTING OF ST MARK’S, REGENTS PARK,
PROMOTED ONCE AGAIN BY
DEAR FRIEND KLARITA OF KAPARTE,
CATCH THE LAST GLIMPSES OF BRITISH SUMMER TIME,
WITH A FREE GLASS OF WINE,
LIGHT FROM THE BIGGEST STAR
SEEPING THROUGH THE WINDOW,
WHILST EXPERIENCING ‘WE ARE STARS’ LIVE!
TICKETS ON SALE NOW!!
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Raf and O perform at Schtumm Box Wiltshire May 2023. Photo by Louie
Trails From Constellation Club
Constellation Club, Raf and O’s new club with bespoke and exclusive items of merch, Raf’s original art and secret songs of the future, was launched last June on Bandcamp as two items of merch – Shine with Raf and O and Dazzle with Raf and O. Our fans who have joined the club so far, have fed back that they are cherishing the handwritten black books of ‘We Are Stars’, that they were unexpected in size and a wonderful thing to have. The books have been conceptualised and adorned in golden and silver ink and they are truly a one off, no book is the same as the next. Visual art is in the mix in the form of portraits and secret songs of the future have been and are flowing into the club, a mix of super early days renditions, behind the scenes updates, new lyrics, names on releases and more. We’re very grateful to the ‘Constellationists’ for supporting this direct to fans approach and we are welcoming new members. A huge thank you to Marcus Portee, Adrian Burns, Adrian Ainsworth and David Plaice.
CONSTELLATION CLUB – SHINE WITH RAF AND O
CONSTELLATION CLUB – DAZZLE WITH RAF AND O
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Above excerpts from ‘Cheap Champagne’ ⓒ Raf and O 2023
So we’re thrilled …
Summer 2023 saw us conceptualising and designing ‘We Are Stars’ album artwork, setting up a photoshoot and making … a new official video that is silently screaming its way towards you, featuring a huge star of the silver screen, we kid you not! Meanwhile, we leave you with a live video performance of ‘Eyeliner’ filmed last May in Box, Wiltshire, many thanks to Schtumm for having us!
God Is In The TV Zine says of Eyeliner: “A mysterious tale of an outsider …It swells into a soaring 50s-tinged chorus that swirls with the atmosphere of a back road Blues club”
See you at the launch!
October 21, 3PM
RAF AND O ALBUM LAUNCH SHOW
Love
Raf and O 🌟✨
Raf and O – ‘Eyeliner’ Live at Schtumm Box Wiltshire 21 May 2023
Back to RAF AND O’S BLOG/ NEWS PAGE
Raf and O 
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