Stars- The Five Ghosts

For decades, the likes of Bryan Adams and Alanis Morissette waved their maple leaf flags proudly as some of the only recognisable exports from the Canadian music scene. Sometime in 2008 however, with a slight change of wind direction and the sudden appearance of an abundance of heavily bearded men, something drastically changed.

Almost overnight a Canadian alternative revolution saw the likes Broken Social Scene, The New Pornographers and Stars becoming some of the most recognisable names in alternative music.

The mainstream success of Toronto popsters Stars, with hits off their 2007 opus In Our Bedroom After the War, has left fans gasping for more of their trademark story driven pop/rock. The anticipation for a now 5th full length release from the somewhat super-group of Canadian musicians has come to a head with 'The Five Ghosts', an obvious departure from previous works.

When critics use the term ‘departure’ it usually dictates that a musician has tried something new, and it has worked. Sadly in the case of 'The Five Ghosts' this is not really the case.

What seemed to underpin the group’s previous triumphs was their pop simplicity. The kind of basic, catchy riffs and hooks that grew and grew into euphoric endings have gone missing, replaced with electro fuzz and some profoundly lost vocals.

From the earliest seconds it’s painfully evident that Stars have attempted to try their hand at incorporating jarring synthesizer beneath the tracks, and the trend remains. In a similar paradox to what saw the latest Editors record fall flat, not to mention Neil Young’s ‘Landing on Water’, the over-exuberant use of synth detracts from some profoundly sound instrumentation. This over-excitement in its use bodes more like a toddler’s reaction when realizing crayons are editable rather then a step forward for Stars.

Beneath this synth nonsense, opener ‘Dead Hearts’ aptly delivers those warm and fuzzy harmonies between lead vocalists Torquil Campbell and Amy Millan which remain as cute and perfectly fitting as on previous works.

Unfortunately Stars strongest trump, with one of the finest duets since Sonny and Cher, seems to dissipate as the record progresses.

With Millan’s harmless vocals featuring a lot heavier across ‘The Five Ghosts’ in vein of some trademark duet dueling, lead single ‘Fixed’ highlights the sure talent but lack of intrigue a solo vocalist brings to already cloudy material.

On an album with so much incongruity, Millan’s voice coupled with a trademark slow-building combo of strings and noise does once combine successfully to provide sure highlight ‘Changes’.

The single track on the album that is completely devoid of silly add-ons and returns to some simple catchy pop, enhanced by a building narrative, restores some hope for further releases but is not the ‘Take me to the Riot’ that will get this album recognised.

There were three ways Stars could have gone after the immensely popular predecessor to 'The Five Ghosts'. Option A was to do something very similar, ‘In Our Bedroom after World World War II’ perhaps?

Option B was to strip it back, highlight the group’s strong points by leaving a guitar and two glorious singers with a shown talent for writing catchy and lasting pop tunes. The final option was what you hear on ‘The Five Ghosts’ and unless the new direction hits home with a new set of fans, next time Stars shouldn’t pick C.