Set Yourself On Fire [20th Anniversary Edition] [Deluxe CD]

by Stars

Overview

The artwork for Stars' Set Yourself on Fire is eye-catching and dramatic, like a protest painting or Keith Haring subway drawing. And that's before you find the inside shot of a woman in a ski mask and little else, contemplating a flaming hand torch. The art direction's boldness complements the maturity in Stars' music, where nothing's just indie pop and string arrangements sound as perfect as the keyboards. Vocalists Torquil Campbell and Amy Millan enunciate every word with careful precision, and they sing of remembered high-school romances, dead ex-lovers, and drunk current ones in basic but powerfully evocative language. It's a twentysomething life, told in short story form. In opener "Your Ex-Lover Is Dead," Campbell and Millan's characters don't rekindle their relationship, but they don't apologize for its end, either. "I'm not sorry I met you," they harmonize. "I'm not sorry it's over/I'm not sorry there's nothing to save," and the song's strings and brass build to a surging outro that's the wordless acknowledgement of everything they had. The title track is augmented by strings of its own, keening dizzily in the background of an undeniable electronic pop pulse, and "What I'm Trying to Say" does the same thing, but replaces the strings with electric guitar. "Reunion"'s near-perfect guitar pop brings to mind Spoon, and mid-album mates "Sleep Tonight" and "First Five Times" have different views on the intent of (and locations for) modern romance. The songs blend trumpet, keyboard effects, acoustic guitar, and electronic and analog percussion for an intelligent pop sound that doesn't need bells and whistles to be unique. Stars rely instead on melody, charisma, and lyrics as sharp as any modern essayist, and it's all they need to sell the quiet grandness of Set Yourself On Fire. ~ Johnny Loftus

Product Details

Release Date:	11/22/2024
Label:	Art & Craft Uk
UPC:	0827590009219

Tracks

1. Your Ex-Lover Is Dead [2024 Remastered]
2. Set Yourself On Fire [2024 Remastered]
3. Ageless Beauty [2024 Remastered]
4. Reunion [2024 Remastered]
5. The Big Fight [2024 Remastered]
6. What I'm Trying To Say [2024 Remastered]
7. One More Night (Your Ex-Lover Remains Dead) [2024 Remastered]
8. Sleep Tonight [2024 Remastered]
9. The First Five Times [2024 Remastered]
10. He Lied About Death [2024 Remastered]
11. Celebration Guns [2024 Remastered]
12. Soft Revolution [2024 Remastered]
13. Calendar Girl [2024 Remastered]
14. Petite Mort [2024 Remastered]
15. Rollerskate [2024 Remastered]

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Stars   Primary Artist,Vocals
Chris Seligman   Horn,Keyboards,French Horn
Evan Cranley   Guitar (Bass),Horn,Bass,Drums,Guitar,Trombone,Percussion,Synthesizer Bass
James Shaw   Guitar
Amy Millan   Guitar,Vocals
Torquil Campbell   Vocals,Trumpet,Keyboards
Aaron Seligman   Choir/Chorus
Pat McGee   Drums,Percussion,Glockenspiel
Murray Lightburn   Choir/Chorus
Moya O'Connell   Choir/Chorus
Lana Tomlin   Violin
Rachel Moody   Violin
Dan Seligman   Choir/Chorus
Doug Campbell   Voices
Anne Marie Leblanc   Cello
Eric Hove   Saxophone
Ibolya Kaslik   Choir/Chorus
Markia Anthony Shaw   Viola
Noel Sobara   Choir/Chorus
Natalia Yanchak   Choir/Chorus

Technical Credits

James Shaw   Producer
Drew Malamud   Engineer,Mastering
Pat McGee   Composer
Evan Cranley   Composer
Amy Millan   Composer
Philippe Gosselin   Mastering Engineer
Torquil Campbell   Composer
Chris Seligman   Composer,String Arrangements
Tom McFall   Engineer,Producer
Alexandra Patsavas   Musician
Joao Carvalho   Mastering
Marcus Paquin   Engineer
Tony Hoffer   Mixing,Producer
Brett Zilahi   Mastering
Cy Scobie   String Arrangements
Bronwyn Savasta   Musician
Ibolya Kaslik   Liner Notes
Stars   Producer,Composer
Patrick McGee   Composer