Prominent band from the Midlands set to release new album after decades away from music

Portarlington-based band The Star Chamber are set to release a new album titled Misery for the Masses on February 20.

The band is made up of Dave Connolly (guitars and effects), Séamus Duggan (words and speech), Nora Gannon (Singing). 

The trio were assisted on the new album by Derek Barter (Bass), Eoin Hanna (Spanish Drums) and Pete Holidai (Production and myriad flourishes) who featured on several tracks across the record. 

After a couple of decades away from creating new music, the free time imposed by the Covid pandemic encouraged Séamus and Dave to start sharing musical ideas and getting together to formulate them with help from Nora Gannon and Shane O'Connor. 

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The pandemic also led to the establishment of an Art Collective in Portarlington where Nora and Séamus live. Dave took the opportunity to travel there on a regular basis to road test songs at the Open Mic nights run by the collective.

It was the positive responses from those in attendance at these events which played a big part in encouraging them to take the songs further and make them into a body of work.  

After a couple of recording sessions, it quickly became clear that there was a basis for an album.

The addition of Nora's contrasting vocals along with Pete's mixing and production complemented many of the songs and helped the record to take shape. 

They released two singles titled 'Epitaphs' and 'Quarantine' in the lead up to the album which have garnered positive and enthusiastic reviews amongst fans. 

Having rediscovered the joy of recording, The Star Chamber have plans to continue making and releasing music starting with the upcoming release of their album Misery for the Masses on February 20.