Stars has been one of the more consistent and interesting bands of the last decade. The Toronto-based group, led by dual vocalists Torquil Campbell and Amy Millan, seems to work in narratives. Campbell and Millan create characters, trading side parts and center stage to sing about love, loss, life and death. It’s complex pop, and every album manages to be unique and developed. There are piano ballads and nightclub jams on the same LPs as indie classics and experimental digressions. Stars is hard to pin down because the band does so much, and does all of it well.
The band has recorded eight albums and six EPs and earned four major prize nominations (two for Juno, two for the Polaris). Throughout, Stars manages to make the specific universal and the narrative parable-like, ripping you to emotional shreds along the way. It’s not light listening, but it is beautiful, and important. Here are the 10 best songs to begin a deep, dark dive into Stars.
10. “Take Me To The Riot,” In Our Bedroom After The War
All songs by Stars are filled with an urgent sense of purpose, a beat that pulses ever closer to your heart. That feeling is most evident in “Take Me To The Riot,” off of In Our Bedroom After The War. Starting with just drums and bass, the instruments multiply as Millan’s voice joins Campbell’s and yields a chorus (“Take me / Take me to the riot”) that is less a suggestion and more a strict order. “Take Me To The Riot” is heavy-hitting, upbeat, and mixes signature Stars synth-pop with darker rock influences. It’s personal, political, angry, and contemplative. This song is the perfect starting point for anyone new to Stars, because, frankly, “Take Me To The Riot” is Stars.
9. “Your Ex-Lover is Dead,” Set Yourself On Fire
Is there any moment more brutal, more indicative of how feelings and memories fade over time then being re-introduced to an ex-lover and not being able to remember his/her name? That’s the premise for “Your Ex-Lover Is Dead.” Musically, it’s a waltz as the two narrators dance around having to deal with their shared tragic past whilst stuck in a cab together, each contemplating what was and what it meant. The sounds of an orchestra keep time around them, marking the passing of minutes, and years, as each try to parse emotion and memories. At the end, as the orchestra fades and then swells, the couple embraces the present, singing, “I’m sorry there’s nothing to say.” It’s a tearjerker, musical evidence of the emotional power and sway Stars has been so prolific and gifted at over the years. It introduces every ill-fated love to the front of your mind only to leave you with the depressing sentiment it’s “just time and a face that you lose.”
8. “Elevator Love Letter,” Heart
This 2003 release, off of Heart highlights Millan’s magnificent vocal talent. While Stars often utilizes both Campbell and Millan for singing duties, “Elevator Love Letter” proves that Millan can stand tall on her own. Although it’s one of the most straightforward tracks from the early stages of the band, it’s also one of the catchier. “Elevator Love Letter” matters for more reasons other than Millan’s vocal chords. In a technique the band will later employ countless times, the song mixes major chords and uplifting notes to describe a dark situation The song serves as a love letter to the mode of transportation taking the narrator home after a particularly rough day and subsequent night. Sometimes it’s the small things that matter most.
7. “Set Yourself on Fire,” Set Yourself On Fire
“When there’s nothing left to burn, you have to set yourself on fire.” Campbell’s dad actually says these words at the beginning of “Your Ex-Lover Is Dead,” which gives the album its title, too. This song is chaotic and overwhelming, however. It’s loud and crass and wholly consuming. The entirety of this album is focused on thought, on obsession and nowhere is it better exemplified than the title track. It’s the music you hear when you finally set yourself on fire.
6. “No One Is Lost,” No One Is Lost
In the podcast Song Exploder, Campbell explains how No One Is Lost was inspired by a friend of the band’s who was diagnosed with cancer just as the group headed to the studio. The whole album, and particularly this song, embraces that sense of fighting, pushing against something—and more often than not death. But the band transforms that into a dance anthem on “No One Is Lost.” Synths pound repeatedly as Campbell shouts, “put your hands up ‘cause everybody dies.” Stars consistently excels at turning highly specific feelings and emotions into a universally related song, and “No One Is Lost” is no exception. In the face of death, in the face of pain and mourning and mortality, the only thing to do is dance, live and remember that no one is lost.