Stars - The Five Ghosts

With The Five Ghosts, Stars return with their fifth full length album of sublime dream pop. After going for a more mellow chamber pop sound on the classic Set Yourself On Fire and In Our Bedroom After The War, the band has gone for a more electronic sound this time around. As the title suggests, the majority of the songs here deal with ghosts. Appropriately, the electronic soundscapes that dominate this album are perfect for this subject. Sonically and thematically, the songs have a light, airy, ethereal feel.

This is by far the most concise album Stars have released to date, clocking in at approximately 37 minutes and consisting of just 11 songs. The emphasis here is uptempo songs in the vein of "The Night Starts Here," "Ageless Beauty," and "Elevator Love Letter." Fans of slower earlier songs like "Personal" and "Your Ex-Lover Is Dead" may be slightly disappointed, but The Five Ghosts has lots for a Stars fan to love.

The trademark male-female vocal interplay between Torquil Campbell and Amy Millan is still evident, particularly in the stunning album opener "Dead Hearts." However, Millan simply DOMINATES this album. "Wasted Daylight" and first single "Fixed" are hands down two of my favourite songs of the year. That being said, Campbell doesn't exactly punch it in for this record. He shines on the atmospheric, pulsating album focal point "He Dreams He's Awake."

Despite dealing with grave subject matter like death and ghosts, Stars manage to make the songs light and fun. This album is not as strong as their masterpiece Set Yourself On Fire (what albums are?), but it's definitely worthy of a spot in their stellar catalogue. This is definitely one of my favourite albums of the year so far.

You can check out their video for "Fixed" below.