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Stellar*: Something Like Strangers

It's been five years since the last Stellar* album, a lifetime for most in pop music, and consequently the band, once close to becoming huge, has dropped off the Kiwi music radar. While there are moments here that match earlier highlights, the overall feeling is of an album without spark. Sure there is Boh Runga's gorgeous voice which is an instrument in itself, moving effortlessly from smoldering ballad to straight out rock. And the songs are catchy, polished and full of pop hooks, a result of Runga spending time in LA co-writing with songwriters there. But there is also the nagging feeling that this is a band going through their old motions doing little to lift the album beyond average pop-rock radio fare. For A While, a fetching duet with Andy Lovegrove, and the slow burning Life are up there with some of Runga's best, and the jangle-pop of What Your Heart Don't Know brings the energy that's missing elsewhere. A mixed bag overall where the high points don't quite cover up for the rest.

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