Hard Time Tor The Dreamer was Shelly Poole’s first solo record after her success with Alisha’s Attic. The album was co produced with long time collaborator and friend Paul Statham and entered the I tunes charts at number 1 in the UK and France and went top 20 in Germany. It featured 2 duets with a very young Jack Savoretti an early collaborator of Poole’s.

The album and singles featured in the following

Feature Film – Ninas Heavenly Delights
Computer Game – 2nd Life
TV Series – Brigade Des Mineurs -Leo Mattei
TV series – City Homicide

Shelly continues to release between her other musical projects Red Sky July and The Dark Flowers.

Interviews with Shelly

Sisters Karen and Shelly Poole grew up in Londons east end in a musical family. With aspirations to join the world of pop, the sisters began writing and producing their quirky, experimental music and dubbed themselves Alisha’s Attic, a reference to a fictional character they used to draw on the walls in their attic studio, that was one-part Karen and one-part Shelly. A homemade demo of their Prince-meets-Kate Bush music was sent to the Mercury label and soon their dreams were becoming reality.

Sessions with various producers were abandoned, but the talented duo marched on, writing and programming the foundation of their debut on their own. Dave Stewart was brought in as producer and with Daves finishing touches, Alisha Rules the World debuted the band in 1996. Promotional tours, opening for INXS, a slot on the Lilith Fair tour in America, and the successful “I Am, I Feel” single brought the sisters 600,000 in sales in the U.K. and an instant loyal fan base in the U.S.

Released in 1998, their sophomore effort, Illumina, was more mature and heavily supported once again by radio. The kickoff single, “The Incidentals” reached a U.K. high of 13 and the album sold over 400,000 copies in the UK alone and entered the charts at number 15.

The House We Built from 2001 saw the sisters getting deeper and more introspective with their writing. While it was a well-regarded release with critics and fans, the sisters decided to dissolve the band and carry on with solo careers. Karen went on to be a songwriter, writing hits for Kylie Minogue, Becky Hill, Galantis, Joel Cory etc. Shelly signed to Gary Barlows publishing label and went on to write with Massive Attack, Janet Jackson, Westlife etc and carried on performing with her husband Ally McErlaine from the Scottish band Texas in their Alt folk band Red Sky July. In 2005 there was a brief, live reunion of Alisha’s Attic when Karen joined Shelly for two songs during a gig in Shepherd’s Bush Green.