One of the notable comebacks of the year is that of Interpol, which will release its first album in four years at the end of August. ‘This Mirror Weighs a Ton’ comes out on the 28th of that month and is presented as a work that “is not a reinvention, but an evolution”, according to the press release itself, in which Paul Banks and company explore new nuances within their usual sound.
Of the two singles released so far from ‘This Mirror Weighs a Ton’, curiously the one that convinces the most is the one that tries a different formula from the usual one, while the one that does the least is the one that sounds like the same as always.
In the first case we are talking about the title cut, which also opens the album. Within Interpol’s typical impressionistic lyrical style, ‘This Mirror Weighs a Ton’ seems to talk about isolation, loneliness and emotional anesthesia, using the metaphor of a mirror as a reflection of oneself, a difficult image to confront. Musically we are facing a somber and sad ballad, but endowed with an emotional melody with echoes of Radiohead’s ‘Nude’ and even a certain dream-pop or slowcore flavor. There we find Interpol getting it right in exploring a different sound.
The same cannot be said for the next preview, ‘See Out Loud’, which, as the revs rise, sounds more like a repetition of the formula. Not even the fact that Daniel Kessler sings the second verse prevents the song from being generic. In contrast to ‘This Mirror Weighs a Ton’, the energy of ‘See Out Loud’ rises and shapes a luminous song that places us in that “five in the morning” state of exaltation. “I’m starting to feel pixelated,” Banks sings.
However, a little more risk and less of what seems like an attempt to please long-time fans would be appreciated. In fact, it is fun to discover in the YouTube comments that the “interpals” do not agree on which stage of the group the topic refers to. Some hear echoes of one record, others of another. In any case, the song sounds like something Interpol has done before, and surely better, if that similarity is all that is notable about the song.
Charging …
