Stars - The Five Ghosts

“We have never written an album with this much cohesion and unity’ says Stars vocalist Amy Millan of the Canadian indie/pop band's June 22 album The Five Ghosts (Soft Revolution). "It is the first time we’ve had the luxury of being together in a huge room writing songs off the floor. (This) is quintessential Stars." For us, the "quintessential Stars" has come to mean big, ambitious musical ideas delivered with a measured, highly accessible style, a sound that flirts with melodic mainstream accessories but keeps the adventurous -- sometimes dramatically epic -- quotient high (and mighty). Not many indie-hipster outfits can reveal the sweetly romantic, soul-baring emotionalism that Stars make an integral part of their music...and maybe that's what makes Stars songs so appealingly different.

Stars once again call on Tom McFall, producer of their 2005 breakout LP Set Yourself on Fire, to help twiddle the knobs and shape the sound on Ghosts and each of the five band members -- Amy Millan, Evan Cranley, Torquil Campbell, Patty McGee and Chris Seligman -- contributed to the writing of the eleven new songs. Lead single "Fixed" is an exhilarating piece of large-scale, compelling pop glory, Millan's sublime vocals gliding over a dense bed of chugging synthesizers and a tops-down, percussive drive. When the song peaks with the repeated line "is it your fault" arriving from the heavens in regal splendor, the planets seem alligned and -- for a brief few moments -- all is right in the world. Highly recommended.

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Stars - "Fixed" (from the album The Five Ghosts)