There’s not much to say about this other than it’s fantastic. Stars, a New-York-turned-Montreal band, was once known for the uber-hipster electro-pop song “My Radio,” but have since dropped the “tool cool for school” identity and revealed Heart in 2002. Where Nightsongs was too busy keeeping up appearances to reveal too much emotion, Heart almost has the opposite tendency. Nevertheless, there’s more than enough of a pop sensibility to keep the whole album afloat, and much of the quieter, twee atmosphere is stripped away both on their better songs (”Elevator Love Letter,” “Death To Death”) and in their great live performances. I’ve seen them upstage Broken Social Scene, and then joining them so Amy Millan could sing brilliant versions of “Almost Crimes” and “Anthems For A Seventeen-Year-Old Girl.”

Set Yourself On Fire is the latest album, out in Canada now and set for an early 2005 release stateside. Based on this track, it sounds like Stars are headed a little further into shoegazer territory, but I’ve yet to grab the album.