In just under a year, Star’s frontman Torquil Campbell has been a very busy man. First his main band Stars released their full length The Five Ghosts. Earlier this winter he released his Dead Child Stars album Cold Hands, Warm Heart. And now he has released the latest collaboration with Chris Dumont and their band Memphis. The band has been around longer than Stars, originating in a Brookyln neighbourhood in the late 90s.
Perhaps the best part about this album is the way that it doesn’t just sound like another Stars record, but rather has Campbell and Dumont’s unique fingerprints all over it. The album is able to put the listener into an almost dreamlike state as lush guitars and gentle drums swoop throughout the tracks. Some moments that dream like state can be uninteresting like on “Five Loops” with it’s odd background chatter and dropping keys. Tracks like “I Am the Photographer” are able to grab the listener’s attention again with Campbell painting vivid imagery with his vocals and sharp drumming keeping everything in focus while guitars swirl around. First single “I Want The Lights On After Dark” remains a strong point of the album as it carries the most pop and punch to it with the hook most likely to get stuck in your head. Wrapped in beautiful melodics and romantic lyrics, a listen through Here Comes A City is like dropping into a dream. It can be a little dark and troubled, yet beautiful at the same time as it touches on themes of death, light, darkness, and love.
The album is out now on Arts&Crafts.
