Notes on a Thursday

Today I thought I'd give a little review of Stars' new album Five Ghosts and a Seance, which came out June 21st, 2010. Now, until I started really looking into the band, I could have sworn up and down that Emily Haines was in this band. I was horrifically incorrect. I knew that members of Stars were also in Broken Social Scene, and Emily Haines was in BSS . . . . I have no excuse. I was wrong, I stand corrected. That being said! There are definite parallels between Emily Haines and the REAL singer-guitarist of Stars, Amy Millan: they're very good friends and its not surprising that they're musical styles coincide. Anyway, onto the real review.



Five Ghosts and a Seance is, in my opinion, a very welcome return to their sound from Set Yourself on Fire (2004). In our Bedroom after the War was, for whatever reason, not my cup of tea at the time, and with this new album they've returned to producer Tom McFall, to their benefit, I think. The album has a fantastically ethereal, elegant sound, yet at the same time is very much grounded in terrific percussion beats. The first song off the album, "Dead Hearts," evokes nostalgia, the seed of aruined/lost/unrequited love that has planted itself deep in your heart's atrium. The open harmonies and shimmering synth and strings create a sound for summer. Or maybe that's just the sheen of damp sweat that makes my shirt stick to my skin as I enter my sun-baked car.

The dance-y, beat-driven "Wasted Daylight" sounds a bit Metric-like (Emily Haines, I'm telling you!). But the song seems more rooted than some of the others, in something real and concrete. Millan's lyric imagery is excellent, and more realistic than other songs on the album. See also: "I Died so I could Haunt you" lyrics:

i was only a girl when i wore widow's clothes
i was unfaithful, i lived as i chose
i want only to haunt you, but you're never there

i died so i could have you
i died so i could haunt you

Overall, this latest album has similar overtones to Set Yourself on Fire, but is not by any stretch of the imagination a repeat. There is a continued gothic image, in songs like "Five Ghosts," "The Black House, the Blue Sky," and "The Last Song Ever Written," which also has an MGMT-esque sound. Stars is clearly evolving as a group, with a distinct musical style. And even though it's been three years since their last album, thanks to a renewed focus on Broken Social Scene, I don't feel like they've completely lost their essence as a band (yes, I'm talking about a specific band, and yes, I could go into it. But it's not positive at all, and I'm not sure how I feel about being so purposefully negative).



Anyway, I give this album 3 1/2 out of 5 stars, and a pair of purple pants for being indie-tastic.

*sidenote: the "making of" video series on their youtube channel "starmontreal" is a really interesting peek into how an album comes together, for them at any rate*