Stars' Light Still Bright

Source: By Tabassum Siddiqui

Posted: 09/17/07 4:46PM

Filed Under: Music

The night starts in their bedroom

In an era where singles are consumed with the click of a mouse, the art of the album as a complete, cohesive piece of work—something akin to a classic movie or book—seems to be dying.

So Toronto-Montreal indie-rock quintet Stars' new record, 'In Our Bedrooms After the War,' comes as a relief to those who miss the good old days when songs meant something more than the latest ringtone or iPod ad jingle. While it may be a bit of a stretch to call it a concept album, with its careful sequencing and thoughtful storytelling, 'War' comes across as a unified whole not simply a collection of tracks.

"That was always the goal with us," says Stars frontman Torquil Campbell following a recent appearance on MTV Live. After being away from the spotlight for over a year working on other efforts—both Campbell and fellow singer/lyricist Amy Millan spent time pursuing solo projects during the hiatus—the band (also comprised of bassist/guitarist Evan Cranley, drummer Pat McGee and keyboardist Chris Seligman) is re-energized and ready for the breakthrough many are predicting.

"We're definitely not a singles band, so we must be an albums band," Campbell continues. "I always have a sense of the general effect that I want the record to have, and I think the others do as well—maybe in a more musical language rather than a literary one, but I think we all think of things as a whole. We want to make useful records, records that cover a lot of ground for people—things that you can listen to when doing the dishes or driving home from your mum's funeral, or whatever it may be, you know?"

In case you missed Campbell's dark, wry sense of humour, it probably comes as no surprise that the forward to the new album's liner notes are penned by none other than oddball author Daniel Handler (a.k.a. 'A Series of Unfortunate Events' scribe Lemony Snicket). It's that slightly bleak edge that tempers Stars' hopeless romanticism—both lyrically (as evidenced by the title, 'War' centres around themes of love, loss and fighting the good fight) and musically. As the 'Village Voice' recently put it, the album is akin to "Rent as written by the Smiths."

While some may take umbrage at having their epic pop anthems compared to musical theatre, Campbell (a former thespian himself whose family is well-known in Canadian theatrical circles) welcomes the context.

"To that, I would say, 'Thank you!'" he grins. "I'm a narrative writer, Amy's a narrative writer; we're a narrative band. We love obscure music, but we don't make obscure music. We make very direct, open music. We try to tell stories that are compelling and involving and somehow give you a little insight into your own life, hopefully. My idea of great songwriters are people who can take you into a world when you listen to their music. That's always been our goal—to create a world that's the world of Stars. It's not real, but it's also there if you choose to see the world that way. That principle of making music that makes people feel like their lives are somehow heightened and special is central to what we do in Stars."

Following two solid years touring behind 2004's well-received 'Set Yourself on Fire' disc, 'In Our Bedrooms After the War' was self-produced and recorded in Vancouver (where Campbell resides when not on the road) and refines Stars' take on the story-song.

"I get preoccupied with themes or with images, and almost by accident I find them coming back into each song," Campbell explains. "I became very preoccupied with the idea of writing songs about people who had come home from war, or people during a time of war. I guess the key to the record is in the fact that a lot of it is addressed to people—it's not in the third person and it's not in first person, and I wanted that sense that the record is a movie about the end of the war and you're a character in it."

That said, the always effusive and erudite Campbell gets flustered when asked if he sees himself as a writer as opposed to simply a lyricist.

"I certainly don't. I wish I was! I joined a writing group this summer just to try it, you know, but that's a whole different thing, it really is. I've never been able to get past my internal censor and trust enough to get more than six or seven pages of something out. I guess I feel like I understand pop music very deeply—that's where I did my homework. I've read a lot of books, but I haven't read enough, you know? So I think me and Amy think of ourselves as songwriters, and we're much too lazy to be anything else," he laughs.

After nearly a decade together, Stars have yet to see the same sort of mainstream success as some of their peers (Metric, Broken Social Scene, et al) but Campbell, the sort of fellow who can talk a blue streak about art and beauty and not sound hopelessly twee, insists his "gang of friends" is just happy to make great albums together.

"Our hope with this record is to make a living, to get into people's lives and make their lives more beautiful. To give them a great night out where they go home and dream about things and write things down, and..." Campbell pauses to find the right words. "To be an entertainer, you know? To be in the circus. That's always the goal. Just staying in the circus."

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