“It’s interesting. Someone asked me the other day when I knew this record was a success. I really didn’t know until this year what a success it was,” she admits.
“The test of time is truly what shows when something is successful," she adds. "Walking into a room with thousands of people singing every single word to every single song — that to me is the definition of success."
The Canadian sextet — which also includes vocalist Torquil Campbell, keyboardist Chris Seligman, bassist Evan Cranley, drummer Pat McGee and guitarist Chris McCarron — is currently traveling North America to share the 2004 breakthrough record with eager audiences. Set Yourself on Fire, the group’s third release, immediately put Stars on the indie-rock map; it was nominated for Alternative Album of the Year at the 2005 Juno Awards and went platinum within two years. But it’s the record’s undisputed longevity, and lasting impact on those who’ve held it near and dear all these years, that Millan points to as the ultimate achievement.
“I feel like our whole purpose as a band was to connect," Milan says, "and I guess after being together 25 years and being able to resurrect this album in this way, I feel like we accomplished our goal, which is pretty beautiful."
The final show of the Set Yourself on Fire tour will be in Denver at the Ogden Theatre, on Saturday, October 26. Kevin Drew is providing support.
“If you grew up with Set Yourself on Fire, you’ll be emotional, so bring some tissues,” Millan says. “There’s been a lot of tears, tears of emotion. The way that music lives in your body, it can bring you back to a certain time, and that’s quite visceral and intense.”
A throwback photo from the band's early days, from around the time when the seminal album hit shelves in 2004.
Courtesy Stars
At the time, Set Yourself on Fire seeped into pop culture in both Canada and America, cementing its legendary status. The hit single “Your Ex-Lover Is Dead” appeared on Degrassi: The Next Generation (aka the show that Drake was on before he became a generational rapper) and The O.C. in 2005. Plus, the opening line – “When there’s nothing left to burn, you have to set yourself on fire” — spoken by Torquil Campbell’s late father, the Canadian stage actor Douglas Campbell, is iconic.
The upbeat alternative pop laced with melancholia throughout the thirteen tracks has also remained surprisingly fresh and pertinent. After all, “it’s really just a lot of war and sex songs,” according to Millan. “Sadly, there’s a lot of it that’s still quite relevant, in terms of ‘Your Ex-Lover Is Dead’ or ‘Celebration Guns.’"
The lyrics of “Celebration Guns” in particular, which read like an ageless war-torn poem, continue to reflect the social and political unrest of recent times.
Of course, such songs can mean many things to many people, and experiencing how Stars, particularly with Set Yourself on Fire, impacts fans is what this commemoration is all about.
“Just being able to share stories with people who grew up with it, and it was by their side when they lost loved ones or their virginity,” Millan says. “The record doesn’t belong to us anymore. It belongs to the people who have grown up with it, so we are just there for them, and they are there for themselves. The singalongs have been pretty epic.”
As an artist, there’s always a compulsion to constantly create, she admits, so the opportunity to live in Set Yourself on Fire hadn’t really presented itself before, though the band did similarly celebrate its ten- and fifteen-year anniversaries. But playing the album now does feel different, Millan notes.
“My relationship to it is I can really own it and grab onto it and feel it inside of my body in a way I could not twenty years ago, when it first came out,” she says.
The core of Stars, which is laid bare on Set Yourself on Fire as much as any of the other eight releases, hasn't changed, though, and that’s what keeps it all going.
Stars, with Kevin Drew, 7 p.m. Saturday, October 26, Ogden Theatre, 935 East Colfax Avenue. Tickets are $51.
