Stars - No One Is Lost

Stars

No One Is Lost

13 October 2014

ATO

 

3.5 stars out of 5

 

 

For years it appeared as if Stars themselves were lost. After two brilliant indie pop LPs in the mid-‘00s—Heart and Set Yourself on Fire—which saw the band achieve worldwide success along with the rest of their Montreal-Toronto contemporaries, the band became somewhat of a parody of themselves, beginning with the tedious and borderline-offensive In Our Bedroom After the War in 2007. Well, the ten-year wait for a decent follow-up to Set Yourself on Fire is over, as No One Is Lost sees Stars finally getting over themselves and putting out a record that places the bliss of pure enjoyment ahead of (failed) patronizing high concept and distancing self-importance.

 

From the first few seconds of the opener, “From the Night,” Stars make it abundantly clear that No One Is Lost is concerned primarily with getting you to shake your ass. Dance first, ask great philosophical questions regarding the alienation of humans in society later. Think a less angular Hot Chip with duelling male-female vocalists. And when Torquil Campbell, Amy Millan, & Co. reach back into their past and go for the bombast—as in “Turn It Up”—they do it right, unlike pretty much anything from their last three LPs. But it’s not all fun and games: “What Is to Be Done?” is the chill-out room at the midway point, a warm tribute to the end of warmth in a relationship.

 

The second half of the LP is a return to the indie pop that made Stars famous in the first half of the last decade. “Are You OK?” is as Stars-like as Stars get: an über-catchy, up-tempo, indie pop tune led by Millan’s sugary-but-wise voice. Things come to a full-on dance party ending with the title track, as Campbell sings, “put your hands up ‘cause everybody dies.” This is the kind of have-fun-because-you’re-sad track that Stars so excel at, and as a society we’re better off now that the band is back doing what they’re good at.

 

reviewed by Richard Krueger