Today's Sounds: Stars

Record:

Stars, The North (Soft Revolution)

I’m a Stars fan from way back. They began to find their way on their earliest EPs and debut album, Nightsongs. On 2003’s Heart, they established their basic aesthetic: lush guitars, wow and flutter keyboards, gorgeous his ’n’ hers vocals and melodic strains inspired by the sound of early/mid- ’80s Manchester, where Power, Corruption and Lies meets The Queen Is Dead.

Despite the transparency of their lineage, Stars made it their own, and helped to define the feted Montreal scene, right alongside The Dears, Arcade Fire and Broken Social Scene, which counted two members of Stars among its ranks. The shift from the U.K. to Canada as a primary source for cool music was ironic in light of the influences that informed many of those Canadian bands. Then again, it was Americans who invented rock ’n’ roll in the ’50s, and pop supremacy has moved back and forth across the Atlantic ever since. But rarely has it shifted this far north.

The North, as a concept, evokes so many specific, magical and harsh images and ideas, but is also broad enough for anyone to take to heart: insert your interpretation here. Likewise, Stars’ music has that universal appeal, without ever stooping to lowest-common-denominator territory. Amy Millan and Torquil Campbell’s lyrics express love, romance, wit, excitement, fatalism and a sense of humour that often swings macabre.

What’s most striking about this new record, the band’s sixth proper LP, is how it continues to refine their sound and smooth out rough edges while remaining as vividly colourful and sharp as they’ve ever been. Though still clearly enamoured with the music of their youth, they strike contemporary chords, if only through tapping into the popularity of a specific ’80s synth sound — yes, Drive strikes again. Of course, Stars know a few things about repurposed ’80s keyboards, and falling in love with strangers, and processing violent outbursts. They’ve been rocking that scene for years.

See and hear a trailer for The North here:

Track:

Efterklang, “Apples”

This Copenhagen collective appeared on many people’s radar following last year’s documentary An Island, by Montreal’s Vincent Moon. This new song is just as lovely as the music therein. Their next album, Piramida, will be released by 4AD on Sept. 25.