  Stars are, from left, Torquil Campbell, Amy Millan, Evan Cranley, Chris Seligman and Pat McGee.
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Having spent a year on the road supporting their studio album In Our Bedroom After The War, Montreal pop-rock band Stars wanted to breathe new life into the home stretch of their tour.
Thus, the group maximized some downtime to write, record and release a digital EP called Sad Robots in early September.
It's something singer/guitarist Amy Millan sees almost in miraculous terms for its quick turnaround.
"It's unheard of," she says. "Usually it takes us two years to write a record so the fact that we have a record in an eighth of that time and be able to take it out on the road, it's been so much fun. We've had a really great time with it.
"I think we knew we had to do something quickly. And rather than just over-think anything we put our heads down and focused."
The group, capping off a pre-Christmas Canadian trek with a three-night stand in Toronto Dec. 11-13 at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, also released the six-song effort themselves -- seeing how they're "free agents" currently without a recording contract.
But while proving to be a bit of a stop gap between full-length releases, Millan also says it's a Christmas gift for loyal followers.
As for the EP, Sad Robots harkens back to 2005's Set Yourself On Fire with the lush, grandiose A Thread Cut With A Carving Knife and a live version of Going, Going, Gone.
Stars wrap up their tour with an Australian jaunt beginning New Year's Eve and concluding in Singapore. The group will get to work on another studio album in February, but there's no timetable for its release.
Millan is also unsure as to the upcoming album's sound or direction.
"We'll see what happens," she says. "It would be great if it was a dance record, I would love that. I think we're going to go (the way) Sad Robots is, it's a little bit more electronic drums and a bit of a throwback to our first record.
" We're not making any distinct plans. We're just going to try to make the most beautiful record we can."
In the meantime, Stars plan on releasing a live album, although nothing has been officially confirmed.
The only definite for Stars in the foreseeable future is being off the road for a while, so Millan says these upcoming shows will be "big farewell celebrations" until the next tour.
However, there could be a solo tour for Millan in 2009 as she hits the studio in mid-December to work on a new record with producer Martin Kinack (Apostle Of Hustle), the follow-up to her 2006 debut Honey From The Tombs.
And unlike fellow Montreal group The Dears -- who basically restocked their personnel for their latest album Missiles -- Millan says Stars have been able to remain a unit for a very simple reason.
"Forgiveness, that's how people stay together," she says. "One of the best things I've ever realized was when people were irritating me so much because you live in such close quarters for long periods of time. And somebody would be getting on my nerves. I would be saying, 'Gee, I must really be getting on their nerves, too.'
"But these people in this band are my best friends and I adore them and they make me laugh. So forgiveness and a sense of humour, without those two things we would be done."
