The World Is a Better Place Because Stars Are Back With Their Stellar Album, From Capelton Hill
The pandemic backed the Montreal band into a corner and they fight back by lighting a candle in the darkness.
Of the many times I’ve seen Stars, the indie-pop outfit from Montreal who helped define the mid-00s scene, the show that sticks out to me the most was at the Hollywood Forever Cemetary. Playing at the gorgeous and intimate Masonic Lodge, a small venue located amongst the palm trees and marble headstones, the band was in the early tour phase for the criminally underrated There’s Is No Love in Fluorescent Light album.
Stars were far from their commercial success heydey of their landmark record, Set Yourself on Fire, but the sextet hit new peaks with a blazing set in front of a small yet dedicated audience. Drummer Pat McGee had broken his arm earlier that day yet played the entire outing with a cast, save for one song that an audience member filled in on (this was much more uncommon in the pre-covid days). As someone who saw Stars for the first time while they were touring Set Yourself on Fire, the setting may have been smaller, but almost fifteen years later, the Hollywood Forever show confirmed my love of the Canadian band whose albums soundtracked my early 20s and remain in constant rotation, as their chemistry and care for one another could not be denied.
I’ve been thinking about the few times I saw the group on that tour five years ago while listening to their excellent new record, From Capelton Hill. If you’ve read a review about the album from this past week, there’s often a narrative that it happens to be their best work since 2003’s Set Yourself on Fire. But here’s the thing: this take means one hasn’t been paying attention because Stars have music-wise had a mighty decade. Starting with The North, the group has gone on to play to their strengths, and ninth album, From Capelton Hill, is but another delicious step in their journey towards pure indie-pop perfection (do yourself a favor and revisit 2014’s clubby No One Is Lost).
We should be thankful that this record exists in the first place, as Stars are like so many working bands who depend on the road, and the group hasn’t had an easy go in the covid era. There’s no better way to set up From Capelton Hill than this tweet from singer Torq Campbell:
After five years away, “Palmistry” opens the album with the formula that is always guaranteed to pull me right in: the sweet songbird chemistry of Campbell and Amy Millan. Their combined syrupy heart on the sleeve sincerity has always been the band’s draw, but it means so much more after the dreadful air of the past half-decade.
“Pretenders” is the ultimate Stars single, with Millan delicately crooning over the sweeping chords from guitarist Chris McCarron and Evan Cranley’s driving basslines (kudos to Millan for working “golden foyer” into the hook). “Patterns” is another touching number from Amy Millan as she meditates on the long-term friendships formed amongst Stars, Broken Social Scene, and other artists from their everlasting Canadian indie rock scene.
“Back to the End” is a classic call and response duet from Campbell and Millan that explores the role of the band as each member settled into their domestic lives during the pandemic. Millan digs into similar themes of motherhood and reflection on her past music life in the excellent slow burner “That Girl” before Torq Campbell’s pep talk on the bouncing “Build a Fire.” Keyboardist Chris Seligman has always excelled at giving gorgeous textures to the band’s work, and the song is a fine example of how he has lent an essential hand in forming the band’s sound over the past twenty-plus years.
Campbell looked for a sense of normalcy and reliability during the pandemic, which led him to his family’s generation-spanning summer home in rural eastern Quebec. Not only does the location set up the themes for the entire record, but the song “Capelton Hill” serves as a gentle reminder to be thankful for having another day. The back half of the record serves as a masterclass on what makes Stars tick as it alternates between cathartic synth-pop anthems like “Hoping” and “To Feel What They Feel” or dreamy breezers like Millan’s “I Need the Light.”
Stars thrive on a reliable flair for the dramatic. Still, the difficulty and suffering of the past few years have pushed them further into sincerity and From Capelton Hill is the tremendous payoff for a group of friends who refuse to give in. It’s an album that confronts these dark times head-on while also offering a healthy dose of nostalgic earnestness that warms my soul to hear them again.
I’m so happy Stars haven’t called it quits, and may From Capelton Hill transport you to a place of much-needed comfort as well.
Long live Stars.
From Capelton Hill is available now on Last Gang Records.
If you enjoy this review, why not subscribe to Check This Out!? You’ll receive fresh tunes in your inbox twice weekly. Right on!
Can’t wait to hear this one.