Stars
No One Is Lost
ATO
5/10
The bright, neon pink words on No One Is Lost’s album cover set a deceptively colorful vibe for the Montreal band’s seventh full-length. The album’s opener “From the Night,” plays off that cheerful theme with its catchy, disco-inspired synths. But behind the shimmering synth-pop are the tragic words and lyrics of the Stars we’ve come to know for nearly fifteen years; the songs of loss and disappointment are still there, laced in pulsing beats and layers of orchestration. There’s the sting of “This Is the Last Time” as Amy Millan sings, “And you’ll see I’ll never be replaced / When you come to find / This is the last time.” There’s the shadow of disappointment in “Turn It Up,” and the feeling of imprisonment within “Trap Door.” All is not lost, though! There’s optimism—another quintessentially Stars characteristic—brought to fruition in the bittersweet LP’s closing (and title) track, teaching listeners to accept and embrace their greatest fears.
