If a week is a long time in politics, then two years would have to be a lifetime in the world of rock 'n' roll. But that's how long speedstar* locked themselves in the rehearsal room, searching for the sound that finds form on their debut EP, Fallen Star. "The formation of speedstar* was pretty much a school and family thing," notes guitarist Ben Smith. A year later, and that sinking feeling started to set in. "Up until that point it was very much just casual friends playing together, and we were playing a different style of music," recalls Ben. A combination of musical re-assessment and the arrival of drummer Richard Johnston saw speedstar* start exploring new musical horizons. "It wasn't an instant stylistic change," muses Ben. "The thing was, we'd outgrown the style of music that we were playing before that. That was very much a high school, garage band type thing." And so for the next two years speedstar* locked themselves away, "writing and playing and developing the way we play together." Quite possibly speedstar* would still be in that rehearsal room, if it wasn't for their great moment of epiphany. "I can put it down to a day" Richard proudly recalls. "We saw the Portishead video, live in New York." "And we stripped right back," continues Ben, "and just played with brushes and acoustic guitar, cut everything out. And that was on Fallen Star. It was the first time everything locked into place and the song itself was the direction we were heading. From then on, it's been pretty good." Look Away was the next song the band tackled; applying the newly found Less is More credo, with stunning results. Out went the guitars, in came a glorious string structure and the whole song took off on a pair of gossamer wings. "We're absurdly minimalist," notes Richard. "We tried to dump all that 'Me me me, I want my lead break, I want my drum fill' a long time ago. It's not about that. I get just as much enjoyment from the other guys playing as I do myself. It's a holistic kind of thing. You don't want to look at us from our individual parts."

Like speedstar* themselves, the whole of the Fallen Star EP is greater than the sum of its parts, showcasing the songwriting talents of the entire band. Higher ("one of the heavier songs in the speedstar* arsenal" - Ben) builds to a climax that eschews the usual mind-numbing sonics for a far more natural feel; the naked vulnerability of Brand New Armour highlights speedstar*'s minimalist approach with some gorgeous cello from Alister: while the title track more than confirms that speedstar* took the right turn-off back in the studio two years ago.