Those Were Days

New Zealander Stan Woodhouse, aka Skyscraper Stan,  and his longtime touring band and collaborators the Commission Flats have generated a body of work that has attracted a loyal fanbase drawn to Stan’s easy lyrical style, inventive arrangements and deft genre twists and turns – from country and folk to indie rock and consummate soul – all key elements on their new album, Those Were Days.

For more than a decade, Stan has toured extensively across New Zealand and Australia. His worldwide reach has been extended by 21st Century Lullaby featuring on the hit TV series Colin from Accounts.

A true group effort, Those Were Days has been a collaborative labour of love between Stan and the Commission Flats. ‘We did the whole thing in-house. We arranged the songs together, we produced it ourselves and our drummer Andy mixed it,’ says Stan. ‘It has been a long process, but certainly the most enjoyable music making experience of my career so far.’

Across his career Stan has established himself as one of the most thrilling lyricists in New Zealand and Australia today. Endless months on the road, ‘singing for his chips’, observing the lives of people in town and country and putting it all down on paper has sharpened Stan’s songwriting to a fine point.

Stan – a true believer in the power of words – found himself reminiscing a lot about people, places and the state of the world as he put pen to paper. One sentence, massaged just the right way, can be an entire story in and of itself. ‘I write songs slowly,’ he says ‘I think about everything I put down. Every line I sing, there’s a meaning to it’.

Tracklist:

1. Talk To Me
2. Anjali
3. Let Me Be Frank With You
4. Down The M8
5. Those Were Days
6. Pauline
7. The Plainest I Can Say It
8. Run The Game
9. Strange Things Happen
10. 21st Century Lullaby