When the Canadian pop ensemble Stars are on, they\u2019re nothing short of brilliant: acute musings on the intricacies of love, loss and relationships are set to crisp production and carefully arranged instrumentation, while the vocal interplay between lead singers Torquil Campbell and Amy Millan brims with innate chemistry, whether they\u2019re playing bitter exes or newfound lovers. <\/p>\n
In Our Bedroom after the War, <\/i>the band\u2019s fourth studio album, is imbued with a new sense of theatrics, combining the characteristic passionate delivery and lovelorn lyrics with a heightened drama that surpasses the more contained scope of 2004\u2019s Set Yourself on Fire<\/i>. <\/p>\n
The album launches off strong following its instrumental intro with \u201cThe Night Starts Here,\u201d a classic Stars single with its gorgeous, dreamy soundscapes and seamless vocal tradeoff between the leads. Twinkling keyboard chords coupled with a driving synth beat backdrop simple, sentimental lyrics, creating a mellow yet ultimately memorable track. <\/p>\n
Continuing on in this vein is lead single \u201cTake Me To the Riot,\u201d a bombastic, stick-in-your-head stunner that has Campbell stepping into the role of a desolate pill-popper struggling to break free of his ensnaring existence. Replete with an anthemic chorus and Campbell\u2019s preening, just shy of over-the-top vocals, \u201cRiot\u201d is reminiscent of U2 in its energetic proclamations: \u201cSaturday nights in neon lights \/ Sunday in the cell \/ Pills enough to make me feel ill, cash enough to make me well \/ Take me, take me to the riot \/ And let me stay,\u201d Campbell pleads as the song concludes, his voice soaring with emotion so that the line between the vocalist himself and his put-on character begins to blur. <\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Millan takes over on vocals most memorably on \u201cMy Favorite Book,\u201d a quietly elegant track that showcases the slinking, charismatic whisper of her voice. A welcome respite from the prevailing mood of lovelorn dejection, this song takes over where \u201cAgeless Beauty\u201d left off with its bright, playful optimism and silky jazz-pop instrumentation.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
Other highlights include \u201cPersonal,\u201d a buried gem between the overly wistful narrative of \u201cBarricade\u201d and \u201cThe Ghost of Genova Heights,\u201d a meandering number only buoyed by its slick, upbeat chorus, delivered in a Scissor Sisters-esque falsetto. \u201cPersonal,\u201d despite its gimmicky concept of being told entirely through two singles\u2019 personal ads, thankfully lacks all the expected cheesiness. With its brooding piano chords, downbeat drums and the wonderful contrast between Millan\u2019s hopeful vulnerability and Campbell\u2019s terse detachment, this track is an achingly precise encapsulation of the timeless struggle for connection. <\/p>\n
Despite its occasional lapses into the mundane or overblown, on the whole In Our Bedroom After the War <\/i>is filled with more delights than disappointments. It\u2019s both a testament to the sheer, propulsive power of love as well as a reminder of Stars\u2019 innate ability to craft those quietly gorgeous and always memorable pop tracks. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":29101,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[7864],"rating":[5617],"class_list":["post-40621","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-stars","rating-rating-b-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/40621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/48"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40621"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/40621\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40621"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=40621"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=40621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}