If you told me a couple of years ago
that I would be excited about new music from Tegan and Sara, I'd call
it a bad joke. To be fair, I never paid much attention to their
early indie-folk material and its entirely possible that there's more
than the one-note schtick than meets the eye, but to be perfectly
honest I have very little interest in finding out.
My interest was first piqued by their
recent single “Closer.” When I first heard it on the radio I had
fleeting hopes that it was some previously-unrecorded Cyndi Lauper
single (incidentally, between this and Bruno Mars's “Locked Out Of
Heaven,” we may have to put off the 90s revival for another year or
so). Its very well-constructed pop music, if a bit anonymous
sounding.
Their newest single, “I Was A Fool,”
explores the sound further. As with “Closer,” my first thought
was that it sounded fabulous. Both songs have extremely full
production. In each song, there are many sonic elements that blend
together very effectively.
The most notable improvement is that
“Fool” uses the vocals much more effectively. Its a bit more
stripped back, with a single piano line prominent throughout much of
the melody. But with powerful synth washes, its still very lush
compared to their early material. This suits the vocals better and
allows their personalities to shine brighter. On the previous single,
there may as well have been one vocalist, but here the dual, almost
dueling, vocals really shine.
Overall, its a great balance of
emotional resonance and pop theatrics. Most
exciting, I still think they can do better. The sound of “I Was A
Fool” is a relatively unique one, at least in today's pop
landscape, and I look forward to seeing Tegan & Sara explore it
further.
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