ABIGAIL HOPKINS — Stardust

Stardust by Abigail Hopkins is an utterly compelling work of music, of sounds, of voice, of words, spellbinding and mysterious. The album brims with a universal, big-hearted, edgy awareness. Evocative and moving, Stardust has that special kind of honesty which seems to say we are part of a much larger world or something larger still, even as we try to face hard personal challenges. And sometimes survive, to look back at what’s happened and to see a whole new and vivid picture of the world. And to hear music all around us.

We find ourselves in The Corridors of Hospitals, and then in comes the Storm tonight heading straight for us. Keep the light, burning bright. We pass through aching hurt alone. And in a dream we remember a ghost-like East Berlin and the lost call for unity. Yet there is light from all those stars in the dark night sky, and we know we too are stardust. We are then all at once by the sea again with almost-lost memories surfacing anew from deep down somewhere. And now we hear the sounds of walking the coast along the pebble beach, and the music of the pebbles, birds, the wind and the waves. And now the voices call together, perhaps from far away.

Stardust, recorded at home, has come out of Abigail’s experience of surviving bowel cancer. ‘I was determined to channel my personal pain through creative work. While finishing my chemotherapy, I came up with the idea of creating an album with proceeds going to charity. I've had side effects which included frozen shoulders, and neuropathy and more, so undertaking an album has required a lot from me,’ Abigail explains.

Abigail continues, ‘I was worried that I would not be able to play the guitar again, but due to the expert care I received, and after practise, I can play the guitar almost to the same standard as before. My voice was also affected, so I chose to utilise the situation and on some tracks, such as The La La La Song, I projected my voice with a deliberately husky performance, as I think this lends feeling to the vulnerable tone of the album. In the same sense, I made the tracks autobiographical, charting my journey from being diagnosed in The Corridors of Hospitals and Storm, to then going through a journey of discovery and healing.’

Abigail Hopkins fell in love with playing the classical guitar at the age of seven. She recorded her debut album Smile Road in 2002, described by the press as “spine-tingling”, “intriguingly alternative jazz” and a “warped and trippy debut.” It is a heady mix of jazz, folk, trip-hop and rock. Abigail followed up with the slightly softer jazz-focused album, Blue Satin Alley (2005), although all the tracks still threatened to cross over into different genres and styles. In 2008, Abigail released an EP called The Lighthouse Keeper, a narrative dialogue between two men, a lonely lighthouse keeper and a desperate man who tries to drown himself, set to music.

The Memoirs of An Outlaw (2008) was her third album - on which she played all the acoustic and electric guitars, working with long-term collaborator John Winfield. It attracted favourable reviews, and pushed the musical boundaries even further, again refusing to be easily defined or categorised. The album garnered such descriptions as “profoundly moving”, “dark and sinister, captivating as a cobra” and “dark and dramatic.”

The thrill of making music, for Abigail Hopkins, is in the sheer fascination of experimenting with sound, and weaving lyrics into a tapestry of sonic landscapes, often left-field but built on classical, jazz, folk and rock foundations. She believes a song is very much a story set to music, with both lyrics and melody playing equally important parts. And this is true of Stardust.

Stardust sees the flame rekindled from out of a very tough place. ‘One of the major things that cancer has taught me, is that we are all connected to everything and to each other. I was inspired by the words of the astrophysicist Brian Cox when he said we all come from stardust. Facing death has made me appreciate the small things in life and see the beauty inherent in everything. All The Times I is a song that kind of wrote itself. Initially, I felt it was about past loves I had abandoned, but now thinking about it, the song could equally address the abandoned parts of ourselves - the moonlight on the sea representing that state of unity which never left. But I'd like people to interpret my songs how they will, as songs have different effects on individuals and that's how all art should be - open to interpretation.’

Abigail Hopkins began her working life as an actress, a career she maintains, along with being an acting coach and occasional theatre director. She has appeared in the films Shadowlands, Remains of The Day, A Few Selected Exits, the docudrama Elizabeth, and she starred in Homo Geminus, a psychological thriller, for which she also provided the music. And has played a variety of roles in theatre.

The powerful video for Storm - a single drawn from Stardust - made by Abigail herself, was filmed along the Sussex coast. Abigail has also made a short documentary Under This Sky, which is currently being submitted to film festivals worldwide and has already been officially selected nine times so far, and has won or been finalist twice so far:

Amsterdam Movie Fest (Official Selection)

Berlin Women's Cinema Festival (Nominee)

Cannes Art Festival (Nominee)

Cannes Independent Shorts (Official Selection)

Cine Paris Film Festival (Official Selection)

Cinematography and Photography Awards UK (Nominee - Best Short Documentary)

LA Film & Documentary Awards (Official Selection)

New York Film & Cinematography Awards (Official Selection)

New York Shorts Awards (Official Selection)

Toronto Film and Script Awards (Winner - Best Short Documentary)

UK Film Awards International (Finalist Award - Best Short Documentary)

Abigail intends to utilise Stardust and Storm and Under This Sky for awareness-raising.

‘For example, I’d like to screen Under This Sky in cinemas if possible to raise funds for charity, with possible Q & A sessions after the viewing,’ she says. Abigail is developing further plans for campaigning. ‘I’d like to raise awareness, provide some comfort to those going through a similar situation and campaign to get the age of testing for bowel cancer lowered in the UK,’ she adds.

The Stardust album will be released to coincide with Bowel Cancer Awareness Month (April 2025).

Proceeds from sales and streams of Stardust will go to The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.

Album Credits & Lyrics

All songs written, composed and produced by Abigail Hopkins
Vocals, instruments and programming by Abigail Hopkins
Mixed by Abigail Hopkins except The Corridors of Hospitals mixed by John Winfield
Mastered by John Winfield
Thanks to family and friends, the NHS and The Royal Marsden Hospital