Stars
In Our Bedroom after the War
The latest from Montreal’s art-pop darlings continues where 2005’s Set Yourself on Fire left off, with a few improvements and a few shortfalls. Stars have always draped their songs over the barely breathing yet elegantly dressed corpses of shattered love affairs, and they’ve never been better dressed or more grandiose than they are here. Angel-throated Amy Millan takes on most of the vocal duties, leaving many to miss Torquil Campbell’s “he saids,” which were featured more on previous Stars releases. But the lush theatrics still give some time for Torq to shine, as on the title track, when he croons: “Say good morning to the sleepy person lying next to you/If there’s no one there, at least the war is over.” Playing this song as you drive away from your ex-lover will likely reduce you to tears, but at least the war is over; until the next album, anyway.
