Stars is a Canadian indie pop band. Originally formed in Toronto by vocalist Torquil Campbell and keyboardist Chris Seligman, the band relocated to New York City and then subsequently to Montreal.
... Stars is a Canadian indie pop band. Originally formed in Toronto by vocalist Torquil Campbell and keyboardist Chris Seligman, the band relocated to New York City and then subsequently to Montreal.
Their music has been described as "beautiful, eloquent indie pop", characterized by lush instrumentation, nimble production and mixing, narrative lyrics, and soft but nuanced vocals. The band's style has evolved from an electronic-pop sound as heard on Nightsongs to more rock-based instrumentation on their last two full-length albums, reflecting the permanent additions of singer-guitarist Amy Millan and bassist Evan Cranley on Heart, and eventually drummer Pat McGee on Set Yourself on Fire.
The band's breakthrough single was "Ageless Beauty", from their 2004 album Set Yourself on Fire. While released to minimal fanfare in Canada in October of 2004, Set Yourself on Fire slowly gained a strong following and critical praise soon after its 8 March 2005 U.S. release.
Millan and Cranley are also members of the indie band Broken Social Scene, with whom they currently share a record label, Arts & Crafts. Millan released a solo album in 2006.
Campbell is also an actor and has appeared on the television shows Sex and the City and Law & Order.
Some of the band's songs, such as "The Vanishing", "Your Ex-Lover Is Dead", and "The Big Fight", have appeared on the Fox Network's The O.C. and CTV's Degrassi: The Next Generation.
On their website, they have noted that their name was chosen, by coincidence, without prior knowledge of the shortlived eponymous project by Syd Barrett. They have cited a wide variety of musical likes and influences ranging from Berlioz to Outkast, citing among others Barrett, Paddy McAloon, New Order, The Smiths, Brian Wilson, Momus, and naturally, Broken Social Scene. They covered This Charming Man by The Smiths on 2001's Nightsongs and Fairytale of New York by The Pogues in 2005. Other indie artists have been guest collaborators on many of their tracks, especially for an early period including the release of their first LP.
Anticipating that their album In Our Bedroom After the War would leak at some point between the final mixing and the official release then more than two months away, Stars made the album available in digital form on July 10, 2007.
On September 1, 2008, the band released the EP Sad Robots exclusively through their online store and on tour. The EP is available as a physical release or an online download.
