Interpol
Marauder
(Matador)
The departure eight years ago of bassist Carlos Dengler, aka Carlos D, whose heavy and menacing lines were the DNA of some of Interpol's best songs has cast a shadow over the the band's future aspirations.
Their last album El Pintor, provided contrast and colour even if it could not compare to their most inspired album, their 16-year-old debut Turn On The Bright Lights which was always a tough act to follow.
That was made even more evident when the band spent a good chunk of last year touring in celebration of its anniversary.
Front man Paul Banks said it was helpful in writing a new record to go back and “revisit work you did a long time ago … almost like a palette cleanse and also a weirdly motivating thing.”
But on this their sixth LP, the New York band, in enlisting star rock producer Dave Fridmann, appear to be trying to tread a more upbeat, overdriven sometimes 'poppy' territory and only just keep hold of the intense glue that made them so compelling.
There are times when the band appear to lose their identity altogether.
The serviceable opener If You Really Love Nothing sees Banks appear to step away from his normal brooding Ian Curtis-esque brogue to go proto-falsetto.
Their raucous up-tempo single The Rover, Banks goes the whole hog and comes over like an Ozzy Osbourne tribute.
Unlike every Interpol record, Marauder cuts down on the oblique, admittedly sometimes indecipherable lyricism which always added a fascinating mystery while pointing listeners directly to the guitar and bass hooks.
This time there is a move to be far more personal.
“I think in a way, perhaps I was a mystery to myself for many years,” says the 40-year-old Banks.
“I hope that one benefit of age is wisdom, and I think there’s some clarity that I’m approaching that’s maybe just translated in the lyrics; they seem a little bit more transparent and honest. I would say that I’ve always striven for complete honesty; I’ve definitely never tried to mask things, I’ve always tried to reveal. But I think maybe now, I may be able to reveal with a little more clarity.”
Still we get treated to: "Practically you are intimate, suds in the tub."
There is nothing here that is quite as compelling as the arresting bass-driven gloom groove of an Evil which with the help of one of the great rock music videos and an enigmatic turn of phrase sealed their place as the curators of cryptic. Is it really about Rosemary West?
I am sure I won't be asking similar questions about songs on this album in 14 years time.
But then Interpol have always set the bar way too high.
That's not to say there are no moments of Interpol majesty to indulge in which would remain standouts within their live set.
The aptly titled Flight of Fancy is where they really soar, where a simple riff and chord progression builds and builds, reminding you of why they became indie-rock royalty in the first place.
Similarly NYSMAW is a beautifully constructed anthem of jagged, dark shapes that is what you come to expect from Interpol; and there really is nothing wrong with that.
If this album was not by Interpol, would it have registered on the Richter scale? I don't think so.
Is it welcome all the same? Definitely.
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