Tegan and Sara talk new album 'Heartthrob,' call it their "darkest and most depressing record" yet

by Mark Teo

January 15, 2013

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In their decade-spanning music career, Calgary-born duo Tegan and Sara have evolved from basement project to indie-pop stars to genuine international stars. And with their seventh studio LP, Heartthrob, the Quin sisters promise to take that evolution one step further: They’re promising their biggest, brashest, and hookiest album to date.

AUX caught up with the sisters in Toronto to talk about their latest effort, which is slated for release on January 29. Expect a departure. A big one, at that.

“Each of our records starts out with three months of people telling us it’s a grand departure, and I think it means we’re doing something right,” says Tegan. “Can you imagine if we just ended up putting out the same record over and over again? People would start out interviews with, like, ‘So, this album sounds exactly like the last one…’ People have come to expect that what comes next isn’t what they’re expecting.”

Sara, meanwhile, promises that Heartthrob will lean heavily on the music of the their youth: Think synth-drenched ’80s pop.  “We referenced the music we listened to when we were younger. Because I think the ’80s are always in,” she says. “Cyndi Lauper’s a huge influence, of course, but [we also like] a lot of bands who are using vintage sounds now, like Phoenix. When we were in the studio, there were lots of discussions about how to pull out sounds that are vintage yet contemporary.”

For fans, this shouldn’t come as a surprise. They rolled out two dance-ready singles, “Closer” and “I’m Not Your Hero,” last year, while they also recorded cover of Lauper’s “Time After Time” for Billboard recently.

To realize Heartthrob’s arena-sized sound, the sisters enlisted the help of A-list producers Greg Kurstin—a multi-instrumentalist who’s worked with Ke$ha and Kylie Minogue—and Mike Elizondo, who’s worked with Dr. Dre, Eminem, and Regina Spektor. “We wanted to have producers who worked with female vocalists, because Sara and I were writing very ambitious vocals on Heartthrob,” says Tegan. “For these songs, we were writing at the top of our range, so there was going to be a learning curve.”

Thematically, though, Tegan and Sara say it’s their most complex material yet, revolving around the tension between idols and admirers. “Sonically, it’s big and poppy, but Heartththrob‘s our darkest and most depressing record,” says Tegan. “It’s a revelation we came to: Even though our records are emotionally dark and intense, it doesn’t mean they need to sound that way musically. [Bruce Springsteen’s] ‘Dancing in the Dark’ is a dark song, but it makes you want to dance! So we tried to juxtapose both ideas.”

Look out for a feature-length interview with Tegan in Sara in the upcoming February issue of AUX magazine. In the meantime, watch the karaoke-inspired video for “Closer,” Heartthrob‘s lead single below.

Or listen to their synth-laden cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Fool to Cry,” from the recently released Girls soundtrack.

Tags: Music, Cancon, Interviews, News, Dr. Dre, Eminem, Greg Kurstin, Tegan and Sara, The Rolling Stones

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