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Stars • The Bedroom Demos
The Bedroom Demos
Hot on the tattered coattails of last year’s disappointingly patchy The Five Ghosts, Canadian indie entrepreneurs Stars have unearthed something from their past, presumably from beneath a pair of well gazed-upon shoes. No longer gathering dust in an attic, The Bedroom Demos are the beginnings of 2007’s fantastic In Our Bedroom After The War, complementing the original tracklist (save for the instrumental opening) with two previously unheard titles: the pretty, piano-led ‘Division (Monkees)’, which contrasts Amy Millan’s smooth vocals with angular synths, and the unexpectedly thrilling jolt of ‘The Worst Thing (Whitey Jam)’, an indie-folk rocker with ticklish guitar and energetic drumming, led by Torquil Campbell’s enthusiastic singing.
While both new-old songs should pique fans’ interest, the rest of the tracks are surprisingly close to their familiar finals, though all too often lacking in the album versions’ emotional thump. ‘Take Me To The Riot’ and ‘The Night Starts Here’ clearly benefitted from the layering and melodrama added to their final iterations, and ‘Bitches In Tokyo (Fuck U I Love You)’ simply sounds castrated. Less pronounced in terms of loss of power is the ‘Window Bird’ demo, where the driving bass still carries Millan’s honeyed vocals gleefully along. “Moments have their moments,” claims the label, but the occasion for these demos to pack their full punch has passed. A curio from more exciting times, they serve only to accentuate the missteps that Stars have taken in the interim.
[Arts & Crafts: June 7, 2011]
Comments
Tagged amy millan, in our bedroom after the war, stars, the bedroom demos
Peter ZimmermanJune 21, 2011 at 8:52 pm
No mention of the Bedroom Demo version of “Personal (Caroline)” or “Barricade?” Campbell’s vocals on the former are superlative, conveying so succinctly the emotional depth he’s capable of mining. On top of plodding synths, swirling ambient sounds and a simple programmed drums, he takes center stage, and I think absolutely delivers in a way that opens up the original album version to a completely new interpretation. Isn’t that the point of a demo? Partially it’s to provide insight into the process of constructing an album and/or song, but another main function of releasing a demo is to provide a new lens for the song.
Also, “Barricade (Bedroom Demo Version)” sounds as if it’s a relic from the band beyond the grave. It’s so breathtakingly haunting in its sparseness, but the echoing and reverb coming from Campbell’s voice fits the song’s emptiness so much more than the album version.
I agree that it’s certainly inconsistent, and many songs don’t offer more than their album counterparts (and at points detract– the opening songs as you’ve noted), but I think the omission of the high points, other than the new-old songs, is regrettable.
Terry MulcahyJune 22, 2011 at 8:34 am
Hi Peter, thanks for the input.
Unfortunately I can’t say that I agree though. I didn’t find any of the songs you mentioned to be as sensational as I had hoped and really couldn’t find any new ways in which to feel the album, by listening to these demos.
I do think that there are a lot of great songs here, but that they just don’t have that exciting sparkle that Stars are so good at teasing out, when they’re at their best. These demos sounded exactly as I would have expected them to, and are really bare-bones progenitors of the album tracks (in my opinion).
There simply wouldn’t be room for me say something about every song and I really thought that those that were poor hurt the album more than those that were better did it any favours. Those two tracks that might be new to fans were more interesting to listen to, and to ponder upon what might have been, and I felt that these were more worthy of attention.
That said, you’ve focused a lot on Torquil’s input and, this being a magazine showcasing women in music, I have tried to ensure that Amy Millan’s input was covered.
This seemed to me a sidestep, that might offer something for fans to mull over, but I simply could not see it as anything more.
However it’s really nice to hear from someone who did enjoy the album more than I; I hope you’re anticipating Stars’ next offering as much as we are at Wears The Trousers.
Peter ZimmermanJune 22, 2011 at 9:15 pm
To be honest with you, I’m pretty unimpressed with this collection of demos in general. I think it’s a stop-gap, but whereas they could have done a live collection highlighting their insanely good 2010 tour behind The Five Ghosts, they chose to release this, which does very little to further their artistic cause. Perhaps those songs spoke to me in particular, so I felt I would just chime in and offer an alternative perspective. I totally get the point of dissecting more closely Amy’s contributions, given WTT’s lens, so I respect that and I guess my comment is a bit… moot!
Their shows behind The Five Ghosts were heartbreaking, wildly compelling and utterly breathtaking. It felt like the band finally was taking stock of its potential and exceeding it. It’s hard to see these demos surface now, because while Ghosts got a lot of critical flak, those songs were reborn live and really thrived. So, they have the capacity to reinvent and recreate in ways that greatly benefit their work, but I fully stand behind your judging of the album as a 6/10. I might have gone with 5/10, but I think 6 does justice to their earnestness in forming the “Bedroom” album.
Just thought those two tracks I mentioned were the listens that reopened the album for me, but, to each their own! Thanks for the lovely response back.