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Set Yourself On Fire is a more journeyed album than 2003’s Heart, with stronger arrangements and improved lyrical deftness. So why do we feel less invested in it? It’s a matter of tone. Heart was a hermit’s album, filled with quiet nights left alone, deeply internalized feelings and hushed conversations between lovers. SYOF addresses the same themes – love and its discomforts, regret and nostalgia – and treads similar emotionally fraught turf. But this album conveys a less intense feeling of closeness. Here, Stars deliver their insights with the superficiality of intimacies conducted in public, distanced by the strain of exposure. They’re smoother and cooler, with bigger, brighter orchestration (brassy horns, bold string ensembles). It’s not the feel we might have expected, but it’s a marvellous trick in itself.
