A
n intriguing story is hinted at on the Future Farmer webpage for
For Stars (not to be mistaken with current indie bands
Stars or
Planes Mistaken For Stars) - about how their 4th album, their first in 3 years, was meant to be their major label debut. How it started as a "big poppy record" until the band lost control, let go, and let the record willfully slip into darkness. How it's about For Stars drifting, "not knowing where they are or which direction they are going."
For those of you who don't actively seek out fractured darkness in your listening habits, these intimations might trigger a quick "next" in your mind - as if the band is saying, "hey, here's our new record, it's not our fault." Well, it's true, the songs on ...it falls apart aren't all completely tidy, but For Stars has nothing to apologize for.
The common structural theme and feel for most songs on the album goes something like this: an opening that sounds as if you're sitting at piano, at 2am, alone, lights off, a few drinks in you, noodling around on the keys. The tentativeness slowly turns into leisurely assurance, but ... well ... you're still alone at 2am, playing a piano. Pretty melodies bob up here and there, and if you pay attention, you can make the connections. If you doubt that For Stars intend this much thought, take a look at the punctuation of the track listing on their website - the titles of the eight songs on ...it falls apart hint at their own hidden poetry:
I should have told you - calm down
baby - It doesn't really matter - in
the end - Shattered Glass - reminds
you - If it falls apart, - lend out
your love
Taken apart and examined: "I Should Have Told You" starts out the album with Coldplay-like organs and icy guitars. "Calm Down Baby" gives that late night treatment to friendship (friends again / you're just my friend again). "It Doesn't Really Matter" provides a peek into the supposedly poppy record that might have been. "Reminds You" is an almost instrumental, starting off with mysterious harmony, turning into a spiraling upward klaxon keyboard, sequeing into a B-side from Yo La Tengo's And Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out... "If It Falls Apart" is a 10-minute opus that builds in starts and stops and random sound clips into a brief release, then diminishes in starts and stops and random sound clips before clicking in again for the final two minutes. And the album finishes with the delicately beautiful "Lend Out Your Love."
Are For Stars disappointed that they didn't make the record they originally intended? It shouldn't matter for fans of the sadcore of Low or early Mojave 3. And what's that cliche about dark and dawn?
