Memphis: A Little Place In The Wilderness

If Amy Millan's twangs on her solo album last year left you with pangs of hunger for Stars' romantic pop—and the recent remix/cover version of Set Yourself On Fire didn't do the trick as a stopgap —you could do worse than settle into A Little Place In The Wilderness. The second album from the Memphis side project of Stars co-frontman Torquil Campbell only contains a few moments as immediate as what Campbell usually creates, but it follows a similar indie-pop path, and everything's certainly as pretty. The general mellowness never gets boring, thanks to expertly placed trumpet, clarinet, violin, pedal steel, and other flourishes, but none of that would work if Campbell and old friend Chris Dumont—whom he played with before starting Stars—weren't on the same page with regards to the power and beauty of a genre that isn't always easy to take seriously.