Up Above the City, Down Beneath the Stars

In Up Above the City, Down Beneath the Stars, the enigmatic Barry Adamson shines a probing light into his own heart of darkness.

Born in the black and white world of post-industrial Manchester, Adamson saw music as a chance to turn his world technicolour. Propelled into punk via Magazine, he was the founding bass player in Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, before stumbling too far down a dark, drug-induced path.

Adamson steers the reader through a mix of harrowing, tragic, funny and often life-affirming straights. Throughout it all, music – be it bass lines, melodies or film soundtracks – is the glue that binds a myriad of memories.

Written in Adamson’s distinctive and cinematic noir , and including personal photographs throughout, Up Above the City, Down Beneath the Stars is an original and powerful memoir, full of suspense, humour and candour.