“When there is nothing left to burn, you have to set yourself on fire.” Spoken in an eerily god-like tone, these words open Set Yourself on Fire, the latest undertaking of Canadian-based Stars. Along with serving as an attention-grabbing opener, the phrase encompasses the overall theme of the album, as well as what the band believes and represents.
With three records now under its belt, Stars has developed an impressive and detailed history. As teenagers, the band members admired each other from afar, with each musician involved in various local musical projects. Tourquil Campbell (vocals, keyboard, trumpet) and Chris Seligman (keyboards, programming, French horn) became friends and moved from Montreal, Canada, to New York City, where Campbell pursued a career in acting and Seligman a career as a freelance French-horn player. Deciding to form a band, the two teamed up with Evan Cranley (bass, guitar, trombone) and Pat McGee (drums). Amy Millan (vocals, guitar) joined Stars after the breakup of her band, 16 Tons.
The band immediately meshed. As described by Millan, “I was immediately best friends with them. They’re really incredible men and they made me feel a part of it right away, as if I was the person meant to be in the band.” The immediate friendship formed within the group led to a variety of crazy episodes, including an arrest for smoking pot before a show. “It was fantastic,” said Campbell. “Ah, the things this band has been through.”
Following the release of its first two albums, Nightsongs in 2000 and Heart in 2003, Set Yourself on Fire reflects the band’s free-spiritedness and emotional capacity. As described by the Canadian independent label, Arts&Crafts, the making of Stars’ third full-length album was one of falling apart and building back up.
Moving back to Montreal and cutting themselves off from the rest of the world during one of the coldest Canadian winters on record, “Stars nestled in their cocoon, drank rivers of booze, smoked things they shouldn’t, had bloody arguments, slid down icy hills on the bellies of their snowsuits, kissed and made up and nearly went insane … Serious emo shit went down. When they were done letting themselves completely fall apart, Stars channeled all that cabin feverish intensity into writing brilliant songs,” according to Arts&Crafts.
The emphasis on the band’s experiences of both destruction and restoration is reflective of the group’s involvement in the “soft revolution,” a recent populist pop movement in Canadian music that embraces the concept of world domination by the meek. This artistic revolution, and consequently the album, captures the ideas of symbolic self-immolation, an action particularly intriguing to Campbell.
“We can’t wait for someone else to ignite that in us that is beautiful, that in us that is important … that which is our dream,” said Campbell. “So much of life is spent trying to dim what you are, control what you are, and I think … music in general can make you feel like you want to break out of what you’ve become, burn it all, and start again.”
These ideas are prominently displayed in several songs on Set Yourself on Fire. In “Soft Revolution,” Campbell sings, “We are here to make you feel / it terrifies you but it’s real … we’ll get there soon / (cue revolution).”
The best and perhaps most confusing element of this album is the huge range of emotions and subjects covered in the 13 tracks. Stars takes listeners from the awkwardness of seeing a former lover at a party in “Your Ex-Lover is Dead” (featured on the Feb. 17 episode of The OC), to social commentary directed toward George Bush in “He Lied about Death.” The band takes its audience from “The Big Fight,” an autobiographical song illustrating a fight between Millan and Campbell that nearly broke up the band, to the ultimate reflection of the band’s philosophy in the songs “Set Yourself on Fire” and “Soft Revolution.”
The wide range presented in Set Yourself on Fire is remarkable in that it places importance on everything, giving the same weight to war of the heart as it does to actual war. Social revolution and forlorn love aside, Stars’ third album produces a baker’s dozen of songs that all meld together, forming a solid record.
Reminding listeners of Death Cab for Cutie, the Postal Service and Super Furry Animals, Millan’s and Campbell’s vocals are light and aesthetically pleasing, whether each vocalist is singing alone or teaming up to trade lines as in “One More Night (Your Ex-Lover Remains Dead).” The solid vocals are backed up and, in most cases, made better by Cranley’s melodic and breezy bass lines, McGee’s energized drumbeats and Seligman’s talent on the keyboards and synthesizer.
Pitchfork Media’s Sam Ubl gets it right when he says, “Set Yourself on Fire is about breaking up and breaking down, and as such the album feels wontedly cathartic, like the moments right after you hit your emotional nadir and start getting your shit together.”
The whole album is mellow and understated. Initially, the songs presented seem too similar to each other; it takes a few listens to recognize the enormity of the band’s talent. While there is not a huge amount of variation between the styles of each song and the diversity of lyrics from song to song leaves the listener slightly disoriented, the subtlety of the band’s talent showcases Stars’ true strength. This is a strength and maturity achieved only by a group that has gelled and grown together. With Set Yourself on Fire, Stars furthers the Soft Revolution and presents a complex and solid musical effort.
Grade: AB
