Mark Stoermer - Another Life (2011)

During a hiatus from The Killers, the band's bassist, Mark Stoermer, wrote and recorded Another Life, his debut solo album that sits apart from The Killers' own style and brings together a sketchbook of heavy hearted country, folk riffs and lo-fi pop. Though he had never written a complete song before beginning the process, he began to take creative cues from films, books, and real life experience, first writing lyrics and then recording melodies to match their mood. After playing around with different styles, searching for his own vibe, Stoermer decamped first to the LA studio of Louis XIV's Jason Hill in the creative hub of Laurel Canyon and then to The Killers' own Las Vegas studio, where he reunited with friends Glenn Moule and Joel Stein from Howling Bells, on whose album, The Loudest Engine, Stoermer he had just made his debut as a producer, and with their help the recording of Another Life was completed. With songs spanning quirky electro pop, sun-kissed folk, and distorted crashing guitars, Stoermer's two years of searching, self-discovery, and musical growth are chronicled in Another Life.