Take Me To The Riot
Stars surprised everyone yesterday when they announced that they had, without any warning, released The Bedroom Demos, a full collection of the demo sessions from which 2007′s In Our Bedroom After The War was born. Scribbles of tracks were recorded at Montreal’s Breakglass Studios with Jace Lasek (The Besnard Lakes) before the band took off to do a proper record of the full album in Montreal. Fast forward to 2011, where Lacek rediscovered the tapes in the hallways at Breakglass, dusted them off, and sent them out for the world to hear.
It’s always interesting to hear to these early ideas to see how they evolve into the finished tracks. In the case of The Bedroom Demos, the changes range in size, but that evolution is easily noticeable. Songs were originally quickly titled with names like “Film Score” and “Fuck U I Love You,” and Torquil Campbell sings both his and (to very odd effect) Amy Millan’s parts on “Personal.” String arrangements are no where to be found, and guitar solos are everywhere. The collection is exhaustive, including all tracks found on the final album as well as two tracks that were cut: Division (which would later go on to be the B-side to the “Take Me To The Riot” single) and “The Worst Thing” (which I don’t think we’ve ever heard before).
The Bedroom Demos is available digitally from Arts & Crafts, and you can stream the whole thing over at Exclaim. Listen to the finished version of “Take Me To The Riot” below. You know, for comparison.
+MP3: Stars – Take Me To The Riot
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