The Hanging Stars announce new album "Just A Day" and 2026 tour dates

London’s The Hanging Stars return with their sixth album, Just A Day – a dazzling collection of four-part harmonies, shimmering twelve-string guitars and chiming songs, touching on themes of longing, new beginnings and the fragility of the everyday. Recorded at Edwyn Collin’s legendary Clashnarrow Studios in the Scottish Highlands, the album marks a bold new chapter for the band, produced with the invaluable guidance of Teenage Fanclub’s Gerard Love. 

A line-up change at the end of 2024 proved to be a galvanising moment for The Hanging Stars. “We needed to rethink things,” says guitarist Patrick Ralla. “A new leaner approach – bass, drums, guitars, four-part harmonies. Certainly worked for The Byrds, Big Star and Teenage Fanclub.” The result is a wonderfully energising record full of catchy hooks and a renewed vision. The songs are designed to take the listener away from it all… even if it's just for a little while.

Frontman and songwriter Richard Olson reaches a creative high point with Just A Day, which opens in a surge of optimism with “All Your Yesterdays”, to “The Glasshouse”’s twelve-string-jangle-meets-New-York-circa-1976 meditation on wealth and class, to “Let It Slide” a feel-good track with a sting in its tail, to the country gospel drone of “Big Red Car” and meditative title track “Just A Day” laments for the day just gone. There are additional compositions from Patrick Ralla (“Keep On Making Me Wait”) and the first inclusion for bassist Paul Milne who wrote the party track “Show Me The Way”. 

Their sound evokes classic sounds from the past with an ear towards the future, from The Byrds via Big Star, to The Feelies, Spiritualized, Teenage Fanclub and Tom Petty. Or think Lou Reed and the Velvets jamming with Gorkys Zygotic Mynci. The result is an album that feels simultaneously classic and vibrant, their influences worn lightly giving the songs room to breathe.

With the album announcement we're excited to share a release tour: