NORTHSTAR

Belfast’s Silent Running folded for a full 30 years after releasing their third album in 1989. One of Ireland’s biggest musical exports in the 1980s was burned out. They had headlined numerous nights at London’s legendary Marquee Club and toured extensively across Europe and the USA with some of the biggest names in music including Simple Minds, Robert Palmer, Talk Talk, and Stevie Van Zandt. The band also appeared on iconic music TV show The Tube. In 2019, they got together for the fun of it, that process led to live dates, the ‘Follow The Light’ album. Now, on 7 November 2025, Silent Running release ‘NORTHSTAR’ their fifth album on CD and Digital Formats through Door Records. The first single ‘Hit and Run’ was released on 15 August 2025.

Vocalist and rhythm guitarist Peter Gamble describes ‘NORTHSTAR’ as, “The best of our career. It’s a collection of songs about the highs, lows, and challenges of love, life, and the world we live in today”. Since  reforming, the band have already performed [again] with Simple Minds, Ocean Colour Scene and Madness; plus they performed with Texas in August. The release of ‘NORTHSTAR’ is being supported by the Arts  Council of Northern Ireland. Jo Wright, the Music Officer said that the organisation was: “delighted to support Silent Running through our National Lottery arts funds. They were one of the best bands to emerge from Northern Ireland back in the 1980s and the magic is still there, as their fiercely loyal and growing fanbase will readily attest”.

The Silent Running band line-up features Peter Gamble, Tony Scott (Guitar, backing vocals), Richard Collett (Bass Guitar, back vocals), Gary Kirby (Drums, drum programming, backing vocals). The album also features keyboards by David Williams, whilst  Stevie Prosser takes on that role for live shows.

Peter says, “The real objective is to connect with people, to create empathy, and ultimately to make music that moves hearts. The inspiration for the songs on ‘NORTHSTAR’ came from many places. ‘This Is My City Tonight’ reflects the positive cultural shift I experienced on a night out in Belfast – a city that feels very different from the one I grew up in. ‘Rose From A Stone’ is about the challenging journey my wife and I went through to be together. For the first time, I also wrote from a female perspective. The song ‘Hit and Run’ is about a woman searching for true love – “the one” – but finding only men looking for something fleeting and physical.”

From having been amazed to find that out that the fans were still out there – and lighting up the Facebook Forums – 30 years later, to making the best music of their career and playing some of the biggest shows, Silent Running are very much back. ‘NORTHSTAR’ is more than a statement of intent, it shows the way forward for this talented band.