Album cover, released October 14th, 2014

With Montreal-based band Stars on tour right now, and doing three dates in Toronto at the Danforth Music Hall, I realized that no one had reviewed their newest album, No One Is Lost, which came out on October 14th, 2014. So here we go: it is fantastic. Period. Probably one of my favourite albums in a long time, showing that while on their seventh, SEVENTH album, Torquil Campbell, Amy Millan, Evan Cranley, Chris Seligman & Patrick McGee can still reinvent themselves and stick to the indie rock that made them big.

Having two lead singers is usually a struggle with bands, but Torquil and Amy obviously have fun together and can balance it perfectly. Throughout the 11 songs, they share solo performances and duets, showing off both of their individual influences on the tracks.

The first single, and first track on the album is “From The Night”, which is a dance anthem to say the least. The 6 1/2 minute-long song gives the listener a feel for the entire album, having thumping beats, solos from Torq and Amy, and slower verses. This is definitely the same level of inspiration that “Take Me To The Riot” had for Stars’ 2007 release In Our Bedroom After The War, with the chorus strictly consisting of the line “I don’t care if we never come back from the night”. The video is hilarious and fun, watch it below:

My favourite song would be “Trap Door”, which is a jab at all the young privileged kids that try to rebel and go crazy at clubs and it obviously fails, depicted with the lines “The kids in VIP are really making me angry,
with lines around the block and inside the place it’s empty…The kids in VIP are all looking for a family, their teeth are made of gold but their wallets are empty.”

The ballads known in Stars’ albums come in the songs “What Is To Be Done?”, “A Stranger” and “Look Away”. These songs take on a darker tone, inspired by the cancer diagnosis of manager Eoin O’Leary, and the view of mortality that comes with it to the people around.

If you are able to see Stars during this tour or at music festivals this summer, make sure you do. They put on a fantastic live show and this set of songs will be amazing to see live.