STARS come out at night, the best time to bathe in the magic-dusted melodies of a group of New Yorkers who have relocated to Montreal, Canada, to further their dreams of an electro pop nirvana. Sweet on the languid, melancholic English pop of Saint Etienne, The Smiths and in particular New Order and Electronic, they pursue wistful beauty with a warm sensitivity that is utterly lovely and endearingly soft. In particular, suckers for boy/girl harmonies will swoon at the deadpan interplay of Torquil Campbell and Amy Milan - a latterday Suzanne Vega - particularly on Elevator Love Letter, Death To Death and Romantic Comedy. Stars write of love and loss, as so many bands will, but these incurable romantics do so with a rare gift for capturing love's maddening highs and lows in simple musical form. They know exactly when nothing but cello or violin or trumpet will suffice. Bright Stars indeed.

Updated: 10:43 Thursday, June 12, 2003