Solaris (Elliot Minor album)

Solaris
Solaris
Studio album by Elliot Minor
Released	19 October 2009
Recorded	March–September 2009, Chapel Studios, Lincolnshire; Abbey Road, London; Fourth Street Recording, Santa Monica; Mavehole Studios, York; Mid City Sound, Los Angeles; The Yard, London; South Beach Studios, Miami; Alpha Centauri, London
Genre	Symphonic rock; pop rock; classical;
Length	50:02
Label	Repossession; Dreamusic;
Producer	Jim Wirt
Elliot Minor chronology
Singles from Solaris
	"Discover (Why the Love Hurts)"; Released: 3 April 2009; "Electric High"; Released: 5 October 2009; "I Believe"; Released: 11 July 2010;

Solaris is the second studio album from the English pop rock band Elliot Minor. Solaris was released on 19 October 2009 in all territories except Japan, where it was released several months later on 21 April 2010 with additional bonus tracks. It was the last album released by the band before their indefinite hiatus in late 2010.

Recording

The band started recording their second album in 2009 after a brief break after touring commitments for the debut album were finished. Alex Davies stated in an interview about writing for this album "I had heard about the pressures of a second album on the songwriter and I can assure you it is true, you have all your life to write your first album and months to write your second. Fortunately I had a load of melodies running around my head and lyric ideas that pulled from the changes in my life over the years that Elliot Minor was formed till now. The majority of the songs are uplifting as I was being positive in a pretty tough year to work through and the others are more personal and intimate".^[1] Recording took place across Los Angeles, Miami, London (including the famous Abbey Road Studios), and their hometown of York.

Promotion

The band released "Discover (Why the Love Hurts)" in April 2009, before the album had been formally unveiled as a teaser, before going on to release "Solaris" and "Electric High" before the album was released in October 2009. The final single from the album was "I Believe" released in July 2010. The single version of "Solaris" was a different version than the one that would appear on the album. There was some technical difficulties with the release of "Solaris" which caused promotion to stall and encouraged the band to record and release an acoustic version as an apology. "Electric High" then became the lead single with a music video sent out but the release was again plagued by technical difficulties which caused more problems for the bands charting positions.

The album was supported by the Satellites Tour in 2010, and an acoustic version of the album which was recorded and bundled with a Kerrang! Live Special DVD which also featured some cover versions that the band had been playing.

Reception

The album debuted at number 73 on the UK Albums Chart and number nine on the UK Indie Albums Chart,^[2]^[3] a decline in chart position from their debut album.

Track listing

*Solaris* track listing
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"The Dancer"	Alex Davies	3:09
2.	"I Believe"	Davies	4:26
3.	"Electric High"	Davies	3:49
4.	"Coming Home"	Davies, Ed Minton	5:08
5.	"Carry On"	Davies, Minton	4:14
6.	"Solaris"	Davies	3:42
7.	"Better Than the Courtroom"	Davies	4:11
8.	"All Along"	Davies	4:39
9.	"Discover (Why the Love Hurts)"	Davies	3:27
10.	"Shiver"	Davies	4:18
11.	"Tethered"	Davies, Andrew McMahon	4:25
12.	"Let's Turn This Back Around"	Davies, Minton	4:33

Japanese edition
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
13.	"Jacky Jules"	Davies, Minton	3:04
14.	"Solaris" (single version)	Davies	3:11
15.	"Solaris" (acoustic)	Davies	3:24

Personnel

Elliot Minor

Alex Davies – lead vocals, guitar, keyboards, violin, strings/choral/orchestral arrangements, songwriter
Ed Minton – vocals, guitar, violin
Dan Hetherton – drums, backing vocals
Ed Hetherton – bass, cello
Ali Paul – keyboards, synthesizer

Additional personnel

Jim Wirt – producer, engineer, bass guitar, backing vocals
John Greatwood – mixer (all except tracks 2, 3, 14), engineer
Jeff Hannan – mixing engineer
Eric Pham – assistant engineer
Ethan Schmidt – assistant engineer
Max Coane – engineer
James Mirabal – assistant engineer

Charts

Chart performance for *Solaris*
Chart (2009)	Peak position
Scottish Albums (OCC)^[4]	62
UK Albums (OCC)^[2]	73
UK Independent Albums (OCC)^[3]	9

References

^ Glasswek National with Elliot Minor
^ ^a ^b "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
^ ^a ^b "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 30 April 2022.

[1] Glasswek National with Elliot Minor

[UKA-2] "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 30 April 2022.

[UKI-3] "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 30 April 2022.

[ac_Scotland_-4] "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 30 April 2022.

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