Tegan & Sara // Hearthrob
The songs aren’t as personal as previous efforts.
If Tegan and Sara had got as far as ‘Back in Your Head’ on their 2007 album, ‘The Con’, stopped and then used it as a starting part for this new record, it’d kinda make sense. The anomaly is their interim record, ‘Sainthood’, from 2009, a rock-sympathetic power-pop number that really put the Canadian twins on the map, a scale-up from their previous cult status. This new LP, ‘Heartthrob’, picks up the pop baton from ‘Back in Your Head’ and expands it to a full album. It’s not straight up and down chart-fodder though; this is a pop record in the way that you could probably call Ladytron’s catalogue pop records. Synths power slide up and down most of the tracks, used in the way the twins usually employ their guitars. What’s noticeable is that the songs aren’t as personal as previous efforts; the girls apparently wrote this album together, a change from their usual gambit of holing themselves up separately, pouring out their deepest experiences that create songs like old tracks ‘Nineteen’, ‘Alligator’ and a plethora more. These are still honest, but a group message; anthems for the masses, not dirges for one. There are tender moments of exposure though, as instruments are paired down mostly to piano and drum on ‘I Was a Fool’ and lyrics are at their most honest on ‘How Come You Don’t Want Me’. As a fan, I resent the departure from the norm a little, (I blame The Killers, their recent tour partners… bleurgh) but for many, get ready to welcome the now-arena ready duo into your collection. 6/10 Emma Garwood
