I didn't even know about this album until I randomly found it on iTunes yesterday. I've been obsessed with it ever since, and I wasn't even really a Stars fan before. Set Yourself on Fire never impressed me that much, but this one is great, probably in my top five for the year.

I love The Night Starts Here, a great start to the album (the 1st track is basically an intro), and My Favourite Book is a beautiful Belle-and-Sebastian-esque song. Personal is, I think, probably the most unique song. Torquil and Amy trade verses in this haunting portrayal of the disappointment and loneliness of two people looking for love online. Other standout tracks for me are Bitches in Tokyo and the title track, an dramatic piano and orchestra piece which reminds me somewhat of Arcade Fire.

Has anyone else been listening to this? What do you think of the early digital release to offset the inevitable leak? Is this something you think other artists will try? I think all artists ought to at least post a stream of their album online so there's some legal way to listen to it before spending $10-14. And for your favorite bands, would you buy the digital version or would you wait for the actual CD?

I'm enjoying this album - I like it a little less than Set Yourself on Fire, but it's still some solid work. I think the iTunes option is an interesting one, but the real music fans - of which Stars fans are usually a part - will want the full album in their hands.

I think they made a good choice with putting it on iTunes before the leak was able to get out. It might hurt the sales of the hard copy when it comes out though.

There are some spectacular songs on this one, but some of the ballads in the middle fall flat, if you ask me. A minor complaint when you consider tracks like "My Favourite Book" and "Take me to the riot"

It's also available on emusic for those of you with subscriptions. I was pleasantly surprised to get this one early as I was just going to download it through emusic when it came out anyways - for truly "indie" artists that I like, the cd is an obsolete medium to me.

Hopefully more artists/labels will chose to make advanced copies available from legal download sources. I'm always annoyed when my friends are raving about a new album even though it isn't slated to be released until months later (ie. spoon's ga^5) while I'm opting (on most occasions) to wait.

As for the new album itself, from a cursory listen it seems much more of a return to their earlier sound on Nightsongs in that it is very spacious and sparse (fuzzy?). I think Nightsongs is very underrated in comparison to the rest of the Stars work and it has some amazing tracks, though they require a bit of patience and discovery, such as: My Radio (AM Mix), On Peak Hill, and Write What You Know).

However Nightsongs has a much more trip-hop/ambient electronica focus than this new one. Nevertheless, Set Yourself On Fire will always be my favorite of theirs. It's a truly unbeatable album and one of my favorite of the 2000's so far.

I'm waiting for the actual CD to be released before listening. I'm sure I'll like it, though.

I think it's okay... but it's just a little... simple. The Night Starts Here and Take Me To The Riot are good songs, and there are a few other enjoyable pop experiences, but there are a few too many predictable "four-chorders" here for me. I'd give it three stars.

I'm really not getting this. It's much worse than their last one.