Tom Lynch

There's no question that Montreal has become the new hotbed for emerging indie-pop acts, most notably The Arcade Fire and Stars' label mates Broken Social Scene, which includes some members of Stars on its roster. The city seems dead-set on becoming the new capital for the organically sad, talented and pretty.

"Set Yourself on Fire," last spring's Stars offering--its third--proves to be the best of the band's efforts so far, a monster of a pop record that opens with a haunting, humorous and alarming voice that speaks "When there's nothing left to burn you have to set yourself on fire." What's to follow may not exactly suit such a statement, but the thirteen songs of the album are as cohesively mashed together as anyone could hope for, from the astounding opener that is "Your Ex-Lover is Dead" to the pitch-perfect closer, "Calendar Girl." In between, there's love lost and found, war trashed and trampled, and sentiment both damaged and adored.

"I think we just wanted to make a very rich record," says Torquil Campbell, Stars' chief songwriter and one of the two vocalists--the other is Amy Millan, whose voice, both angelic and edgy, adds a priceless uniqueness to the band. "We wanted to fulfill a lot of ideas about arranging music in a certain way. We didn't have a budget before, so this time we wanted to use a lot of different instruments, make something diverse and big, quite epic. In terms of what the record is, what the record does, our intention was to be as direct as we could be, open as we could be, make a record that would appeal very directly to people and get them involved when they listen. There was a sense of purpose this time around."

As far as the themes of the record are concerned, Campbell is unafraid to call them out on what they really are. "I'm quite obsessed with sex and death, obviously," he laughs. "Creation and destruction. Moments in people's lives where things change for them. I think this record is a little more revealing about how we all actually see the world and how the world is. I think the other two [Stars'] records were idealistic in that they wanted to create a particular world, make you feel outside of that world. This is much more in it; it uses elements that are much more direct. Thematically, in that sense, there's more `you' and `us' than `he' and `her' in the lyrics. `Heart' [the band's sophomore album] was a record people listen to when they're in bed with another person. `Set Yourself on Fire' is more getting drunk with your friends. Maybe the next record will be for large public gatherings. I want to make a record you could play at a funeral."

The title of the record, of course, is what caught my attention at first. What would possibly be so irreversible that would lead to such an unusual request? "`Set Yourself on Fire' is a phrase I've become obsessed with," Campbell says. "Phrases get stuck in my head and I don't know why. I like English--it's the best language for dichotomy. You could say something that initially sounds very dark but really is life-affirming. Taken literally it could mean one thing, taken another way it means something very different. I like the contradiction in `Set Yourself on Fire.' It is self-destruction, but also letting people see you burn, too. In order to fall in love, in order to live the moment of your dreams, you have to burn, you have to sacrifice a little bit of yourself or a whole lot of yourself. Love is death, in a way. I think it's interesting that death and birth are kind of the same. It's the same old shit, you know? It's just Western art, man. It's the same old movie playing in my head instead of the heads of other people."

"Set Yourself on Fire" has been Stars' greatest critical achievement, finding spots all over the country at last year's end on various best-of lists. The success is well-deserved. "I didn't anticipate that the success would be so sustained," Campbell says. "I'm really excited by any reaction. It's surprising that the record's found so many different kinds of audiences. You often feel you're being obscure and obtuse, so that's why it's always a surprise to see that people see the world the same way you do."

Stars play February 17 at Metro.

(2006-02-14)

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