Dead Hearts – Stars Dead Hearts – Stars (Buy)

In the independent music world, every year seems to gain its own identity and subsequent label. For example, 2009 was the year of “Chillwave”; a subgenre of indie music that burst on to the scene with artists like Toro Y Moi, Washed Out, and Neon Indian offering our ears and hearts a laid back approach to electronic music. Now that we’ve gone past the halfway point in 2010, it’s not too early to suggest this year’s identity.

After The Besnard Lakes, Caribou, and Broken Social Scene already released awesome LPs this year, contrasted by the soon-to-be-released albums of Arcade Fire and of Montreal, Stars had a lot of pressure to sandwich those. A strong performance on The Five Ghosts could be further proof that 2010 should be the year of the “Canadian Rock Resurgence”.

This is Stars’ fifth full-length studio release, and certainly takes a bit more subdued approach. As the band enters its second decade of existence, Stars’ maturity seems subtly evident here. The Five Ghosts and The Seance seems like an appropriate album title as there is an underlying haunting quality to the record that keeps you on your toes. Each of the five band members give contributions in their own special way, which fosters a nice complete feeling of inclusion on the album.

Without knowing what to expect prior to listening, I was certainly surprised (and pleasantly so) that Amy Millan was featured so prominently on the vocals throughout. Torquil Campbell, normally on lead vocals, took a supporting role on this album (similar to M. Ward deferring to Zooey Deschanel on She & Him’s Volume Two). I also wasn’t sure how developed these tracks would be considering the very busy year Stars has had working on the Broken Social Scene record, which was released in May.

As soon the track Dead Hearts opens the album, your undivided attention goes rushing to the sound and you can embrace the temperate introduction. Opinions Versus The Sun (Stars vs. The Album Leaf), which is featured only on the deluxe edition, really stand out as the most melodically and instrumentally diverse track.

The only drawback this album has is that tracks 5 (We Don’t Want Your Body), and 9 (The Last Song Ever Written) don’t match the intensity of the others, and seem woefully out of place. Regardless, Stars has given a fine, fine effort with The Five Ghosts and The Seance yet I would proclaim this to be a must-own of 2010.