Francesco Amoroso per TRISTE©

French songwriter Thierry Haliniak has been making music as My Raining Stars since the late ’90s, drawing on the influence of C86, Creation and Sarah Records. After the early experience with Nothing To Be Done, who shared stages with the likes of The Boo Radleys, Adorable and Moose, he eventually released his first album, From St Saviour To Quickwell, in 2008. Since then, he has quietly built a discography devoted to the simple, timeless pleasures of guitar pop. His latest album is called Toy Club and, I have to admit, there is something strangely comforting about it. Listening to its songs feels a little like opening a box of old 7-inches and discovering that, somehow, nothing inside has aged. With Toy Club, Haliniak takes a deliberate step back towards his formative years, revisiting the spirit of the Lyon indie scene of the ’90s. The album’s nine songs were written and initially recorded by Thierry with Casper Iskov, before former Nothing To Be Done member Didier Frahier (E-Grand) was given complete freedom of action with guitars and keyboards. The abum works beautifully because it doesn’t sound nostalgic at all: it sounds more like a quiet conversation with the past. Haliniak writes the kind of songs that seem almost deceptively simple: bright guitars, uncomplicated arrangements, clear melodies and a gentle undercurrent of melancholy. What I particularly like about Toy Club is its lack of pretension. There is no attempt to make these songs sound bigger, louder or more important than they are. They simply exist, beautifully written and beautifully played. Toy Club may not reinvent guitar pop, but it hardly needs to. Sometimes a handful of beautifully crafted songs is enough to remind us why we fell in love with pop, and guitars, and melodies in the first place.

Toy Club track-by-track (by Thierry)

01. Wherever

This is one of my favorites, despite its simplistic structure: just three chords on a loop. I love the arrangements Didier came up with. Written 13 years ago, this song captures the shock, the confusion and the pain of losing my little sister, to whom I was very close; it holds a very special place in my heart. I’m glad the labels chose it as a single. Beyond that, it perfectly sets the tone for the arrangements on the upcoming tracks: mostly crystalline guitars with a few crunchier ones just where they’re needed, where every single note has its place and a reason to exist.

02. Kind Of Light

I wrote this track quite a few years ago now, and I’ve always had a particular fondness for it. I don’t know why, but I had Suede in mind for the melody of the chorus! There’s also a rhythmic tribute on choruses to I Am the Resurrection by The Stone Roses, who are one of my favorite bands. In the end, I think this track sounds like neither Suede nor The Stone Roses, and that’s probably for the best (laughs). As for the lyrics, I’m settling some scores with an ex-girlfriend: it felt good to get it out of my system (laughs)!

03. Silent Girl

This song is 16 years old; I wrote it just a few days after my little sister passed away. The lyrics are very raw and cathartic: a way for me to externalize my pain, my grief, my regrets, and my sense of disbelief, while looking back on shared memories that are dear to me. Obviously, it’s a track that is particularly close to my heart. It took me 16 years to finally decide to release it, so that I wouldn’t fall apart when listening to it. I had initially imagined a version with a classic pop beat, but I realized it worked even better with a baggy rhythm, so I ended up going with that. I was so happy it made my friend of 35 years Didier’s final selection, and I was curious and impatient to see what he would do with it. When he sent me the first mix, I had tears in my eyes because I loved it so much.

04. In His Heart

This song is 30 years old. I remember writing the first draft on my acoustic guitar during a ski trip where I messed up my knee. I had nothing else to do to keep myself busy but scratch away at that guitar (laughs). Again, the lyrics are very raw and literal, about my childhood years spent with my paternal grandparents. I would always go see them on my way home from school, as my parents were very busy working. These are wonderful memories of the tenderness and kindness they showed me. This song is a kind of ‘Proustian madeleine’ for me.

05. Fine

Fine has a special story behind it: I wrote it back in 1992 for Nothing To Be Done, my first band with E-grand. There’s probably a version of it on a cassette tape somewhere. I suggested to my friend Didier that we revisit it; I felt it made perfect sense to have it on this album with his arrangements. I just added the bridge after the first chorus, but otherwise, the structure and vocal melody remain true to the original. I really loved his arrangements from back then, but he convinced me to try something else. Well, actually, he didn’t give me much of a choice (laughs). The rhythm isn’t what I originally had in mind, but Casper came up with this one, and in the end, I think it works really well. It was immediately chosen as the first single by both my labels. The music video is a montage of live footage from that era; it’s the ultimate nostalgic song.

06- It Will Take Me A While

I wrote this song just shortly before my friend Didier finalized the setlist. I must have been listening to a lot of Teenage Fanclub when I composed it; it’s one of my favorites, and also the favourite of Mark Gardener who mastered the album. I wanted a track with that signature Teenage Fanclub-style rhythm, and I think this one fits the bill perfectly. I love the backing vocals that Agnès, aka Mathéa, another longtime friend, came up with for the choruses. The lyrics explore the difficulty of coming to terms with the loss of a loved one and the questions surrounding the possibility of moving forward after their death.

07. Priceless

I wrote this song just before leaving my job as a financial controller 4 years ago. It refers to certain people I consider, in my view, to be rather disreputable; people I was forced to associate with, whose outlook on life was the polar opposite of mine. They were all about consumerism, a thirst for power and money: the kind of people for whom work was everything and who must have been bored to death whenever they weren’t there. In short, I’m settling a few scores here, I must admit (laughs).

08. As Far Back

Somewhere is, in a way, a different take on The Cost Within from Momentum, my precedent album. It actually predates it and is over 15 years old. The song is a tribute to my father, who sacrificed so much throughout his life to give his family the best life possible. Didier selected it early on, and I’m glad he did because, once again, his arrangements really took it to the next level.

09. Till The Time Comes To Leave

This song has a strange structure: it starts off like a classic ballad and then there’s a break: the second half has nothing to do with the beginning. I liked the idea of a shift like that; it’s a nice change of pace, and I think it works quite well overall, with a choral ending that is very, and quite openly, Beatles-esque. I’ve listened to them a lot (thanks to my cousin Jean-Michel, who introduced me to them when I was still a child). Didier suggested an extended version, but I felt it was long enough as it is (laughs).

Toy Club is out now via Shelflife / Too Good To Be True. Look HERE for more information on My Raining Stars.