Aug. 29, 2012 - Issue #880: LP
The North
Stars {recordings_bands_mg} The North {/recordings_bands_mg}
ATO,
3
The North, album number six for Montréal's Stars, finds the band pulling more focus onto the textures of its synth-pop sound. There's more overall shape and shimmer to every part of The North, starting with the buzzing synth groove of opener "The Theory of Relativity," 80s slowjam "Lights Changing Colour" and carrying through the diminishing hope refrain of "The 400," the album rides cooler, shifting structures and more point-counterpoint instrumentals to round out Stars' calling-card big choral swells with more interesting verses.
"Hold On When you Get Love And Let Go When You Give It" and "Do You Want To Die Together," are probably the biggest things on here; the former rides shimmering '80s synthlines through the album's best verses into what's likely the band's next "Take Me To The Riot" anthem. The latter hits that title line as its chorus, belted out by both Campbell and Amy Millan, with all the conviction they can muster. In both cases, the bigness is a virtue: when Stars channels the enormity of the emotions it likes to wrestle with, pins its hearts to its instruments and takes aim at the backs of the grandstands, the swells of its romantic synth pop are unabashedly compelling. You might find that approach overly earnest and off-putting, I suppose, but I tend to fall into the "pro" camp. Stars hasn't really changed up its formula in at least a couple of albums, which admittedly seems to have reduced in its its scope, but even a subtle shift in the sonic blueprint proves a welcome airing every so often. The North is such a shift.
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