Stars

Over two months from now the wonderfully cool Toronto-based Arts & Crafts label will unleash the fourth studio album from Stars. Titled In Our Bedroom After War. If you're like me, you simply can't wait until the September 25th release date. Luckily for us all, Arts & Crafts is wisely making the album available as an MP3 download as of right now, just under a week after it was finished in the studio!

Lead Stars members Torquil Campbell and Amy Millan have been busy leading up to this new album as well. Campbell released his second Memphis album A Little Place In The Wilderness and Millan put out her first solo album Honey From The Tombs, both in 2006. And just mere months ago Stars saw the release of Do You Trust Your Friends?, a remix/covers project, with contributions from Final Fantasy, Minotaur Shock and Metric.

In Our Bedroom After War is what I was hoping for in a new album by Stars. It has has the best of both Stars worlds - the touching and utterly exposed personal songs like the aptly titled Personal (an ode to finding love in personal ads or on the net) and Barricade. It also has the high energy pop/rock of the lead single The Night Starts Here, Take Me To The Riot and the curiously titled Bitches In Tokyo.

If you enjoyed past Stars songs like Ageless Beauty, Calendar Girl, Your Ex-Lover Is Dead and Elevator Love Letter then this album will quickly find itself getting the repeat plays on your stereo or MP3 player. In fact, I've had the album for less than a day and I've already listened to it six times! It's a perfect summer album so it makes perfect sense for Arts & Crafts not to wait until the "official" September street date for the vinyl/CD.

Sample In Our Bedroom After War right now with the addictive single The Night Starts Here and then click over to the Arts & Crafts store to download it months before the actual release date.