Stars
In Our Bedroom After The War

THE REVIEW

Warning: sappy and sweet review! Refrain from metallers, punk rockers, hip hoppers, pop music victims, prog bronze faces, audiophile-necrophiles, emo-addicts, house-dependent, etc. Come on in folks (and ladies especially) who aren’t afraid to feel emotions.

"The night starts here, the night starts here, forget your name, forget your fear..."

After a short instrumental-electronic piece that ends with a gloomy elderly voice (just like how the splendid previous album "Set Yourself On Fire" begins macabrely) the single "The Night Starts Here" kicks off... and it's love at first listen, with all those light, sweet, candy-scented melodies. Melodies that can make you cry, smile, sadden, love... dream.

Thirteen tracks for a total of 55 minutes of music that, once absorbed, you will hardly expel from your hearts. Yes, that's right, you have to listen to this record with your heart. For these 55 minutes, you must rid yourself of all musical prejudices dwelling in you and let yourself go, simply.

This does not mean that Stars are unlistenable, far from it. Take the profound piano of "Personal". Take all those electronic sounds in "The Night Starts Here" (the most immediately touching track). Take the stadium choruses of "Barricade". Take the wonderful string arrangements of the title-track. Take the funky drums of "The Ghosts Of Genova Heights". The whale sounds in "Today Will Be Better, I Swear!". You will find many small great ideas in your hands. Small but very precise and pleasant.

No, this album does not want to elevate itself brutally, it is not boastful, it does not self-indulge, and even if sometimes it may seem the opposite (as in "Barricade") then comes a simple yet very tender song like "Window Bird" to set things right. Small melodies for small love stories. Love: Stars talk about this. But not because they are naive Canadians with a passion for electro-pop who haven't yet learned from their American and British colleagues what disillusionment is, but because they have well understood that if something will ever save our butts from all the mess we create, it will be this feeling that does it. And while in the previous "Set Yourself On Fire" they made us understand it in a majestically sad and resigned way, in 2007 they feel a bit happier and a bit less dark.

I could spend hours explaining the differences, but just look at the album titles to understand the difference. First "Set Yourself On Fire" then "In Our Bedroom After the War". A little more optimistic, right?

So, when the album is about to end, you will marvel that those 6 minutes of the super sweet title-track ("Listen! The birds sing! Listen! The bells ring!") did not make you feel repulsed but rather made you wish to listen to the entire album again.

Trust me. Let yourself go. Divert the path of your ears to the warm heart instead of the cold brain. This music is not to be overthought. It's music for singles. Music for lovers. Music for sad people in search of a reason to smile. Music for happy people who want another reason to feel happy. Music for those who seek but don’t find, but well know inside that if they don’t give up, they will succeed in their intent. Inexplicably warm music in its Canadian nature.

Call it whatever you like, but try to listen to it. And make those you love listen to it.

"Here it comes! Here comes the first day! Here it comes! Here comes the first day!
It starts up in our bedroom after the war
After the war! After the war..."