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Preview: Stars-studded concert
Canadian indie pop mainstay Stars is to perform its first-ever concert on these shores on Feb
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anadian indie pop mainstay Stars is to perform its first-ever concert on these shores on Feb. 12 at the Soehanna Hall, which is located within The Energy Building in the SCBD area of South Jakarta.
The concert is part of the promotional tour for the band's latest release, which was 2014's No One Is Lost ' a collection of characteristically danceable pop sounds inspired by the cancer diagnosis of longtime Stars manager Eoin O'Leary.
Though the themes of mortality might sound a little heavy against the band's celebratory-if-dipped-in-melancholy music, it only makes sense seeing how Stars was formed over 15 years ago and has gone through many life experiences, both as a band and as individuals.
Its best songs are life affirming in their darkly joyful atmosphere, like club music for introverted students of literature.
Stars was originally formed in Toronto in 1998 by vocalist Torquil Campbell and keyboardist Chris Seligman, who were later joined by Evan Cranley (bass), Amy Millan (vocals/guitars) and Pat McGee (drums). Unlike a lot of other groups who have lasted as long as the band, Stars retains this same lineup today.
The band came out of the same scene that bred many indie stars, no pun intended, namely Broken Social Scene, Metric and Death From Above 1979.
Its debut release, Nightsongs was released in 2001 and recorded with the two-person lineup of Campbell and Seligman and garnered the band immediate attention, especially within the North American indie scene.
The band didn't rest, and its second release Heart was released the following year (following two EPs) to increasing fanfare. But it was with 2004's Set Yourself on Fire that the members of Stars became indie stars.
The record bred popular singles, including the hit 'Ageless Beauty' and 'Your Ex-Lover is Dead,' the latter of which had worthwhile exposure through the then-massive US teen TV show The OC and even dance-contest show So You Think You Can Dance, which undoubtedly went beyond the band's usual audience.
In fact, over the years, the band's music has found its way onto many other popular shows, including: Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill, Chuck, The Vampire Diaries and Skins ' just to name a few.
Set Yourself on Fire was followed by a remix album titled Do You Trust Your Friends? which enlisted notable bands and musicians such as The Dears and Metric into remixing songs from that fourth album.
2007s 'In Our Bedroom After the War' continued the band's winning streak and contained the singles 'Take Me To The Riot' and 'The Night Starts Here.' The record was also nominated for the 2008 Polaris Music Prize, which awards Canadian bands' artistic achievements.
The Five Ghosts, released three years later, was also nominated for a Polaris Prize and was the band's first release with the punk/emo label Vagrant Records, though the band also released the album by itself for the Canadian market. The band's sixth album was The North, released in 2012.
'No One Is Lost' finds the band at its most upbeat, if the interviews for the record's promotion are any indication. Speaking to entertainment website etcanada.com, Campbell said: 'I think we're very, very conscious of the fact now that if it's unfun for a period of 10 minutes at any given time we really start to ask ourselves, 'What the hell are we doing?' ['¦] If were not simpatico, then why do it?''
