ROB JONES & THE RESTLESS DREAM - ‘Stars’
Out November 21st
New Single - St Maria - Out Now
Album Launch - The Castle, Manchester - Wednesday 26th November
“A fine songwriter with an ear for a catchy hook as well as reflecting deeper meaning in his lyrics. The musicianship from the rest of the band is outstanding.” - FATEA
“Laurel Canyon by way of Manchester” - AMERICANA UK
“immediately stands out from the crowd” - W21 Music
Rob Jones & The Restless Dream are excited to announce the release of their new album ‘Stars’ this Autumn, a cinematic, heartland-inspired journey through night-time England, guided by dreams, disillusionment and redemption.
With recently released singles from the album already landing on BBC Wales, BBC Ulster and BBC Scotland, Rob Jones’ follow up to his debut record Castles and acclaimed EP Trees, is set to cement his place on the independent music scene.
Recorded in Longsight, Manchester with producer Mark Lewis (Lauren Housley, The Northern Cowboys), the album features Manchester's finest working alongside the Americana scene's homegrown talent (CJ Hillman, Johnny Henderson).
Stars kicks off with the gospel and open-road infused anthem ‘Rising with the Sun’, capturing the euphoria and ache of starting again. ‘Tonight’ is steeped in yacht rock influences, narrating the story of two people always drawn together but never quite in sync. ‘The Darkest Eyes’ and ‘St. Maria’ nod to 80s influences with synths and saxophone, and brooding inspiration from REM and Fleetwood Mac.
The single ‘A Girl I Know’, which landed on national radio (BBC Scotland, BBC Ulster, BBC Wales’ is a swaggering slice of Bob Seger heartland rock with an unhinged glint in its eye. It’s a wild, manic detour through lust and emotional fallout, exploding into a Blues Brothers-style outro that poses one brutal question on repeat: what if love could be all you needed? Stars closes with the hushed and haunted ‘If It Just Takes Time’, dressed in strings and twilight. It’s a final, open-ended prayer - resigned but tender, ending the album not with a period, but a quiet ellipsis.
The ‘Restless Dream’ - part band name, part motif - captures the tension at the heart of the record: the pull between the life you’re told to want and the one that keeps whispering to you in the dead of night. It’s about chasing something just out of reach - a feeling, a place, a version of yourself you’re not sure ever really existed. The idea runs throughout the record - from the sunrise shimmer of debut single ‘Rising with the Sun,’ to the swaggering ache of ‘A Girl I Know,’ to the closing ballad ‘If It Just Takes Time.’
With a sound that merges American influences and Northern grit, Rob & The Restless Dream offer a fresh take on familiar stories, told with warmth, honesty, and a sense of searching that never quite settles.
