Highway to Hell: Hellfire Coloured Vinyl LP

Pre-Order Item. Release Date Subject to Change.
Label: Dead Oceans
Release Date: 4th December

The brass wotsits to name your album after a holy cow, it's a wink at an old classic rock bull who could likely end up tripping up as Star Moles delivers one of 2026's best singer-songwriter records. Despite taking a swing at the old guard it's a record that puts itself forward as a new standard bearer for the new piano troubador mixing up tales with pop hooks, pomp and art rock drama. 

For those who dig: Weyes Blood, Kate Bush, Fiona Apple, Judee Sill...

Star Moles is the project of Emily Moales, a New Hampshire ex-pat reborn and perfected in Philadelphia PA, aka Benjamin Franklin’s town. Since she first laid sound to digital tape in 2017, she has been doing what any great artist should be doing: making art, refining her craft, and finding her voice at her own pace and in relative anonymity. Over those years, she’s explored many versions of herself. Her previous releases (seven full-length LPs, multiple EPs, and countless singles) were often fantastical and conceptual in nature, taking inspiration from literature and mythology. It was a necessary escapism for herself as a teenager in sleepy New England, and as a young adult amid the dull dread of a global pandemic. She’s now 27, and still doesn’t get out that much, but these days, she doesn’t feel the need to reach that far away for inspiration. Moales has traded in high-concept for high impact.

She finds herself drawn to making music that sounds like the music she loves and singing about her life in beautiful Philadelphia. She also remains rooted in our current world historic moment, touching on topics like religious fanaticism, environmental collapse, and the unabashed ascent of fascism in America. Her transcendent fifth full-length album is called Highway to Hell. AC/DC, eat your fucking heart out.

Put simply, this album is a major statement of intent, signaling the arrival of a singular talent, primed for a breakthrough. Moales is a major player in a young, hungry stable of mind-boggingly prolific artists flying under the radar in Philly's ever-vibrant music scene. Highway to Hell was produced by Kevin Basko (Rubber Band Gun) and features vital contributions from members of Emily and Kevin’s Historic NJ Recordings creative collective, including Sam Sullivan (guitar) and Jem Seidel (drums).

Tracklisting:
SIDE A
1. The End
2. Real Magic
3. Time
4. Overdog
5. Day Off
SIDE B
6. Factory Train
7. Spinning
8. Control Freak
9. Skip the Party
10. Halo