Interpol - Our Love To Admire

Parlophone

What dark arts are these? Bewitching, beguiling and quite beautiful, Interpol’s third album, ‘Our Love To Admire’ is an instantly entrancing listen. Ambitious without going so far as to alienate their existing fanbase, this record retains the streamlined urban angst that is a defining characteristic of the band whilst signalling their determination to stake out new territory and harness new sounds and ideas.

Having chewed up and spat out the Big Apple on the metropolis-mired ‘Turn On The Bright Lights’ and ‘Antics’ they’ve here embraced the filmic vistas of John Barry and Ennio Morricone. If musically they’re aiming for the majestic then lyrically they continue to revel in telling tales of lives and loves doomed. It’s all lip-smackingly bitter fare. This dark night of the soul commences with ‘Pioneer To The Falls’, our narrator’s dreams dashed upon the cruel rocks of reality. In large part this song’s melodrama is derived from Paul Banks’ vocal, never before has he sounded quite so doom-laden, each line conveyed with all the gravitas of a deathbed confession.

It is not just the frontman who has upped his game. The cyclical, menacing rhythms of bassist Carlos D. and drummer Sam Fogarino on ‘No I In Threesome’, practically stalk the listener, creating an atmosphere of stifling claustrophobia that makes the line “let us be free tonight” sound more plea than pledge. However, it is guitarist Daniel Kessler who consistently steals the limelight, his input reaching a zenith on ‘Pace Is The Trick’. Initially the guitar playing is slow and assured, but it is just a ruse, for the dull edge is suddenly replaced by rapier thrusts.

‘All Fired Up’ is similarly guitar propelled, the bullish music complementing Banks’ bravado in declaring, “I’ll take you all on”. The sense of defiance is echoed in ‘Who Do You Think’ which baldly states “I came to fight”. Perhaps the album highlight, ‘Rest My Chemistry’, alludes to the band’s extracurricular activities, and the dereliction of mind and body that is the price of living life by “Cocaine, rage and three kinds of yes”. But, if the first nine tracks represent a widescreen refinement of Interpol’s earlier work, then it is the closing brace that hint at a more experimental future.

The use of strings on ‘Wrecking Ball’ adds instant orchestral sweep, the song building slowly towards a point of ecstatic release. And then, in the end, there is ‘The Lighthouse’. Graceful flamenco guitar provides a mariachi feel, strangely incongruous on what seems to be an ode to personal apocalypse, Banks’ gravely intoning “I’m slipping again” as his voice is slowly replaced by a deluge of chiming sound effects. An indisputably elegant band, Interpol here display a greater depth and diversity than on their first two albums, giving short shrift to suggestions that the New York based outfit are a triumph of style over substance. Their most enthralling record yet, ‘Our Love To Admire’ casts a potent spell.

Words_Francis Jones

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DOWNLOAD: All Fired Up, Rest My Chemistry, The Lighthouse
FOR FANS OF: Depeche Mode, Associates, Ennio Morricone

Issue #51 - I Told You This Would Be A Good Issue

Featuring Biffy Clyro, Of Montreal, Duke Special, Frightened Rabbit, Cold War Kids, Jay Reatard, Pat Mills, and more.