INTRODUCING: PHIL THORNALLEY

Renowned songwriter, musician, and producer Phil Thornalley returns with STACKED — a loud, joyful, tongue-in-cheek rock album born from resilience, irreverence, and Marshall stacks turned up to the max. Drawing from the power-pop punch of Weezer and Green Day, the melodic chime of Teenage Fanclub, and Thornalley’s own extraordinary career arc — from producing Pornography by The Cure to co-writing the global smash Torn — STACKED is a handbrake turn into big hooks, bigger guitars, and unapologetic fun.

Forged in recovery following a prostate cancer diagnosis, and brought to life with Californian vocalist Casey Shea and US producer Chris Dugan (Green Day / Weezer), STACKED celebrates the absurdities of rock’n’roll, the music business, and life itself — loud, self-aware, and gloriously unfiltered.

‘STACKED’ marks a sharp turn into louder, punchier power-pop. What made now the right moment to pivot from the dreamy Astral Drive sound into something this unapologetically big and brash?

For me, the right moment to pivot is about when, for better or worse, the muse takes hold. The pivot started when I wrote the song ‘Chorus Goes Here’ - a tongue-in-cheek, semi-autobiographical tale of the pitfalls of my career as a songwriter-for-hire and producer for four and a half decades (yikes). The song style is a throwback to 2000s punky pop rock with self-referential lyrics about losing your way in the music biz machine (sometimes with success but more often to a jaw-dropping silence).

I played the song to a pal who is a big US music biz mogul, and he thought it was funny too. So I thought I’d make a four track ‘EP’ in that style. I enjoyed making the EP so much that I made the ‘STACKED’ album. Once you pick up a Les Paul Standard and crank it through a Marshall, perhaps your DNA changes.

I have a saying I coined myself, “Embrace your irrelevance”. After the success that I’ve been lucky to enjoy, I feel I’ve reached the ‘irrelevant’ part of my career. Fair enough, but rather than go quietly and shuffle offstage I keep doing the thing I always loved to do. Make new music. And a pivot gives me a new trajectory. And that gives me energy.

You’ve described your prostate cancer diagnosis as a watershed moment. How did that experience shape the spirit, urgency, or sense of fun that runs through the album?

Of course, the diagnosis was a time of like ‘heavy’ reflection. A weighty shock to the system. It was not knowing if it had spread. The NHS were, of course, amazing. The scans pick up any oddity in your body, and there were moments I thought it was too late.

But I had started ‘STACKED’, and in a strange way, the album gave me a welcome distraction from the diagnosis through the treatment to my recovery. So even on low energy I had something to look forward to for an hour or two a day. Like rewriting lyrics or trying new mixes. It made me more bold in my song choices like the ridiculous “Freak Boutique” or the over the top “Sweet Believer”, my medley of Neil Diamond songs. I gave myself permission to make the album as overreaching as I wanted to.

And I’m back playing six-a-side football with my pals and in good shape. But some things are changed forever. Regular blood tests and other unfortunate consequences.

The collaboration with Casey Shea feels central to the record. What did his voice unlock in these songs that you felt you couldn’t deliver yourself?

Casey’s voice has a unique Californian sunshine sound but somehow with a dark edge too. Part ‘Tom Petty sneer’ but also a part with the sweet, melodic clarity of Rivers Cuomo. I’d tried to produce Casey’s band a decade ago (though that record never happened) but the identity of his voice stayed with me. When I started writing the ‘STACKED’ tunes I was singing the lead vocal myself. But the producer in me, the super critical sonic scientist, realised I didn’t the vibe. I needed something purer to complement the band I’d put together. I needed the right gas for the right engine and that was Casey. The moment Casey sang ‘Chorus Goes Here’ and then the other Weezerish song, ‘You Could Have Anyone’, I knew the songs sounded ten times better. He ‘got it’. He dialled into the sense of humour in the lyrics. The teenage whine but with his unique effortless melodic sense.

Once I had the template of the sound I wanted for ‘STACKED’ my choices for the songs were bolder. Like the ballad “ It’s You That I Want”. Taking a would-be Celine Dion cover and melting the face of Weezer onto the body of Queen. Making it rock in a funny, pompous way with all the faux-classical twiddles and over-the-top band arrangements. Jim Steinman on steroids.

My favourite piece of the record is in the middle of the song “Four Letter Word” where he counts in “one, two, trois …” for some reason that moment cracks me up every time. It crystallizes what ‘STACKED’ represents. Don’t take yourself seriously. Enjoy the ridiculous.

Looking back across your career — from producing The Cure to co-writing ‘Torn’ and touring with Bryan Adams — where does ‘STACKED’ sit in your personal timeline of reinvention?

It’s funny to imagine that these are ‘reinventions’ when, for the first two decades of my career, it was simply trying to make a living out of music. It’s tough! I pretty much took whatever work was offered until I was ‘in demand’ after the phenomenal success of ‘Torn’. Then I had the luxury of picking which cool artist to collaborate with.

Early in my career, I had long spells of being out of work. Or perhaps more pertinently, I couldn’t make a ‘hit’ record. That may sound trite, but a ‘hit’ makes everyone think you know what you’re doing. But making a ‘hit’ involves the same energy, skills and enthusiasm as making a ‘miss’. Something takes over with a successful record, and you go from “zero to hero”. And you have to accept it. Enjoy it. And face the facts, unless you’re Max Martin or Paul McCartney, it’s probably not going to last, is it?

My ‘ASTRAL DRIVE’ albums were idealistic. a chance to make the star-gazing trippy, pop/soul music that I wanted to make as a teenager but didn’t have the skills or opportunity. But in my later years, I had all of those.

The ‘STACKED’ album is seen through a different lens to ‘ASTRAL DRIVE’. Less about a heartfelt, naive worldview and more about “how much louder can we make everything?”

I think ‘Parents’ is a good example of a reinvention. I would never have written a song about whining, entitled teenagers in my po-faced 20s. But now, in my carefree autumn years, it turns out a great melody with funny lyrics and a slamming band can have an infectious quality.

Humour, nostalgia, and self-awareness run throughout the record. What role does irony play in your songwriting now?

My default, ever since I learned three chords, is to make music, to write songs. If someone says a phrase that catches my ear, I will quietly start singing it with a hopefully catchy melody. It’s a type of affliction. And after all these years, I am surprisingly earnest in my endeavours. The nostalgia and the irony, I think, arrive from just having survived the ups and downs of the career. So why not write about that? The stuff you know? I do try to write it with inspired melodies and a strong, or ridiculous, lyrical concept. But also try to keep it to three chords or less.

It is absurd to write and record songs like “I Dig Rock n’ Roll”. Big dumb hooks and even bigger guitars. The singer encouraging the guitarist to “Get his Jimmy Page on” or proclaiming “I love Led Zep’ til the singer comes in. It’s just fun. Teasing. Why not? As I found out recently, I could shuffle off the earth at any moment.

Over the years I’ve noticed that the main consumers of pop music, teenagers, love ridiculous records. records that are outré. Records that say the unsayable. Or sounds that are bonkers. Anything that shocks the parents. That’s why AI in music will be devastating. ‘Kids’ traditionally want ‘rock n roll’ in the sense of a spirit of rebellion. Elvis in the 50s. Prince in the 80s. Nirvana in the 90s. And so on. They wanna make their parents appalled. “You can’t listen to that!!? It’s made by an algorithm! It’s disgraceful !! It should be banned!!”

Guess what? There’s your next hit. There’s your new rock n’ roll. Whoops. 

STREAMING EVERYWHERE - 23 JAN 2026

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