Having shared stages with Simple Minds, Stevie Van Zandt and Talk Talk, as well as packing out legendary venues like the Marquee, it seemed Silent Running were destined for world domination. Yet for some reason their star started to fade after the release of their third album in 1989 and the band mysteriously disappeared from view. However, their fanbase never lost the faith ensuring that when they reformed in 2019, their return was nothing short of triumphant. Latest album Northstar finds Silent Running in a rich vein of form and picking up right where they left off.

If there were any doubts about Silent Running’s current validity, then they are blown away by opening track ‘This Is My City Tonight’. It proves that the band haven’t lost the knack for writing a catchy tune; hard, yet melodic, and with a hook that could floor a heavyweight boxer, this cut comes as a certified earworm and will haunt your cranium long after the final chords fades. It’s an atmospheric rocker (like most tracks on this album), and it is from here that it derives much of its power; it’s a song that’ll take you on a pillion ride through a rain-soaked, neon-lit cityscape and you can almost feel the wind in your hair and see the characters who whizz past. And just like a motorcycle ride, Northstar is an album that’s always shifting gears and after the effervescent beginning, ‘Hit And Run’ kicks down a notch or two before ‘You And Me Against The World’ opens up the accelerator once again. It is here where the band’s experience comes into play and ensures that Northstar ebbs and flows like an old school album. Any of these ten tracks has chart bothering potential so it is perfectly feasible to dip in and out and enjoy these songs individually. However, it’s advisable to set aside 45 minutes and enjoy this album as a unified whole and fully appreciate the exhilaration of its twists and turns and wild ululations.

Since their reformation Silent Running have performed with the likes of Madness and Simple Minds (again) and on the strength of Northstar it seems they’ve still got the ability to write oven ready live anthems. ‘Seventh Wave’ in particular seems tailor made for the live environment and is sure to get thousands of voices singing in union and an equal number of fists pumping their air in affirmation. Ensuring they depart as they arrived, ‘The Walking Wounded’ is an amphetamine-fuelled, raucous rocker and evidences Silent Running a contemporary force. Outros are an often overlooked aspect of songs, and those which fade into the ether can contain a lot of magic, and that which concludes ‘The Walking Wounded’ is full of alchemy and suggests that Silent Running are just getting started.

With Northstar as their guiding light, Silent Running will be right back on course.

• Northstar is released via Door Records on 7th November 2025 (available here).
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Track List:

1. This Is My City Tonight
2. Hit And Run
3. You And Me Against The World
4. State Of Mind
5. Shooting Star
6. Seventh Wave
7. Rose From A Stone
8. Faith Healer
9. Don’t Look Down
10. The Walking Wounded