5 Songs I Love w/ Strawhouses

With their new album, Time in the Light now out, Strawhouses have given us a chance to dig a little deeper into the music that has shaped them. For this feature, the band (Stuart, Rishi, Michael, Paul and Chris) have picked five songs they love, offering a glimpse into the artists, records and moments that have influenced their own approach to making music.

From personal favourites to tracks that have left a lasting impression, these five choices reveal a different side of Strawhouses and provide some insight into the sounds and ideas that have stayed with them along the way. We take a closer look at each selection and hear from the band about what makes these songs special to them.

Airiel – "In Your Room"

Stuart (drums, percussion):

I found this band on a playlist in the summer between lockdowns, whilst driving around the Alps for weeks and weeks in my van – no plans, no people, no problems. It was like a dream, heading off in no particular direction with this blurry, tragic, warped and optimistic shoegaze colouring the whole world. For many people, lockdown was awful. For me, the world felt like it was reevaluating its priorities.

It’s difficult to separate the art from the artist. I take inspiration from enigmatic, mysterious musicians who make beautiful, unusual and original sounds. Shout out to several very close seconds: Anything by Elizabeth Fraser, AG Cook, MBV, Mono, Bibio, Kiasmos and Ritchie Hawtin. AG Cook I think is a bit of a genius. His solo albums are way out there and he has just produced the new DIIV album. He also did a track with Elizabeth Fraser and Jonsi, Cannibal on Shiver.

Daniel Hart – "Ruth and Sylvie"

Rishi (guitar, piano, synth, string arrangements, glockenspiel):

This is from the film score “Ain’t Them Bodies Saints”. I remember watching it in the cinema and being really moved by the combination of the strings and handclaps. I’ve always loved atmospheric film music, and this is so beautifully done in its textures, rhythm and slow build.

We wanted this album to have depth in its instrumentation – moving beyond a standard guitar band lineup – and that rich, cinematic quality is exactly what we were looking for. For example on "My Saving Grace". The handclaps towards the end were inspired by "Ruth and Sylvie" – we were looking for a bit of magic as a final percussive lift for the song.

At the Drive-In – "Invalid Litter Dept."

Michael (bass, guitar):

At the Drive-In's music encapsulates so much of what I love in a band and challenged my musical worldview. Making perfection from imperfection, chaos in harmony, the wrong notes as the right choice. I used to think being flawless was the aim of playing in a band, and this album was one of the first that convinced me to throw that out of the window. They were unapologetically authentic, and much like another favourite of mine, Refused, they were righteously combustive. This song in particular always stuck out to me due to its snaking groove, the spoken, surrealist vocals in the verses, and a chorus that hits like a bulldozer through a line of parked cars.

Radiohead – Fake Plastic Trees

Paul (vocals, guitar, piano, synth):

It’s a really obvious one – but this song literally changed the way I thought about songwriting, singing and music in general. I’d never heard a vocal as perfect. To create such imagery through the lyrics whilst still really getting the theme and message across is nothing short of masterful. For such a simple song, it has an otherworldly soundscape. It blew my mind at 16 when I first heard it. The way it builds. The light and shade. The explosion at the end. The blend of organ, strings and ethereal guitar sounds was a reference point for our new record – and funnily enough, Guy Massey who mixed our album was one of the assistant engineers on "Fake Plastic Trees" (I think for the string overdubs) – I actually found that out after we’d finished the mixes, and I was gobsmacked!

David Bowie – Heroes

Chris (guitar, vocals):

I will always come back to “Heroes” by David Bowie. My uncle Nick, who passed away recently, bought me my first guitar – he’s the whole reason I play. He was in a Bowie tribute, not the gimmicky costume-and-makeup kind but an authentic take on Bowie, Roxy Music, T. Rex – musicians who understood the spirit of that music, not just the surface. “Heroes” was his favourite, and it became mine too. The way it builds – from that quiet, aching opening to something triumphant – gets me every time, and it’s something we lean into with Strawhouses: letting a song grow until it opens into a wall of sound. As a guitarist I love Fripp’s endless singing sustain that sounds like the guitar refusing to give up, and the way Bowie’s vocal cracks as it climbs only makes it more impactful. Nick was my musical “hero” – an incredible, powerful vocalist and one of the best live performers I’ve seen – and I’ve taken some of his influence into my own performances.

Listen to Strawhouses' new album, Time in the Light, below via Now Listen: