Love and death have always been the twin engines of the popular song. Few bands of recent times have understood this as completely as Stars. And fewer bands still have so eloquently articulated, in words and in melodies, the seemingly countless ways love and death fill our days and rule our lives.
The Five Ghosts, Stars' fifth full-length album, would seem to be business as usual. But The Five Ghosts is simpler, sparer, and more confident (in its own quiet way), it also trades some of the band's previous dramatic flourish for the sort of direct, heart-bearing communication that comes from hard-won experience.