Fourteen tracks of pure heaven. Nightsongs, the long-awaited debut album from Stars, contains beautiful beats, heartfelt lyrics, and enough injections of Morrissey, Marr, Derrick May, Björk, The Blue Nile, New Order, Frazier Chorus, Style Council, Electronic, Marvin Gaye, The Chimes, and De La Soul to move St. Etienne and all the angels up in heaven to tears. Tears of joy. Salty tears the likes of which they've never wept before. A million dancehall dreams will be built around these words and rhythms. All else might vanish, but these songs will last. Painful and perfect reminders of hope. Reminders of that salvation in desperation, the living and the moving, the dancing and the grooving. Those moments of madness and sadness, of elation and vibration! These songs are already playing in your head -- you can almost hear them.

Put this disc in your system, turn it up, and just let the music flow. A dizzying array of words will fall from the mouths of Stars, while bandmates Torquil Campbell, Chris Seligman, and their gaggle of electronics and associates play poet to your past and pervert to your present. Their clubby cover of the Smiths' "This Charming Man" is sure to win them some instant fans, but their original compositions will have this band living up to their moniker in no time. The soft revolution starts here!