Guitarist and artist Trojan Red employs simplicity of design alongside complexity of emotion, for the deeply thoughtful new acoustic album Under The Shooting Stars.
Inspired by the tragic loss of a loved one, this project uniquely captures the raw essence of human sadness and expression – everything from the live acoustic sound and strum to the melodic progressions, patterns and spaces within represents this underlying truth and ache.
We begin with the simple yet striking Accomplished, just one minute and nineteen seconds but unmistakable in its fearless simplicity of stops and starts. We then move into the mildly brighter, stripped-back pop-punk strum and rhythm of Never Have I Known, the same structure indicating an unmistakable Trojan Red trait – this finger-style calm to rhythmic pace rise and fall.
Seven original tracks make up the album in full, a personal venture depicting a former punk and metal musician meandering away from the group format to delve into heartache and the search for self. The composition of each of these tracks has its own sense of story and emotion, but those threads of identity remain across the entire playlist – reappearing for the hypnotic Scenic Route to Desperation (a profoundly poetic title), and softening subtly for the uninhibited freedom of an aptly-titled Stand Out.
Authenticity is the central value of Under The Shooting Stars, and it’s something likely to draw a crowd with all the more evocative intensity during a live performance.
As we continue through the grunge-kissed chords and patterns of This Is The Moment, the completed playlist gathers a sense of evolution, the gentler and pensive Turning Back, On the Brink Of War emerging at just the right time to reflect upon that.
Then we get the closing track With Far To Climb – a hint of joy and possibility returning, the intricacy of the playing and Trojan Red’s clear devotion to the moment piercing through the noise of the scene for one last grasp at connection.
Download or stream Under The Shooting Stars. Find Trojan Red on Instagram & Twitter.
