The sad pop album can be done, but to do it, you have to have either hard beats or some real character. But, due in part to the one-size-fits-all pop beats here, all songs are mired in the same sort of gentle melancholy. See the clever “Boyfriend†or the admirable ballad “100x.†Likewise, “White Wedding†plays with the issue on how the sisters are fighting for sexual orientation equality in marriage, but make the point that just because someone can get married, doesn’t mean he or she should. Instead, both sisters, who always have their hearts on their sleeves, open their diary more than ever before, or at least, contribute a greater directness. There’s no mindless “let’s party, woo hoo!†barrenness here. Why? The sisters for their part make an valiant effort to make pop music with some substance. But here, instead of getting a Tegan and a Sara, we just get two Tegaras singing at the same time. One of Tegan and Sara’s core strengths, maybe their core strength, is the interplay between their vocal textures- Sara’s ethereal voice drifting past Tegan’s wounded coo. Neither does it help that he mixes both of the sisters voices into the same tiny box. (Though, once in a while he does lay down some cool Vangelis-style background menace). When there’s nothing really to latch on to you ear, such as “White Knuckles,†he simply layers track on top of track, and then adds generic filters to try to make non-compelling material seem compelling. Kurstin seems to confuse BIG with catchy. It also doesn’t help that all of these songs have the same mega-slick texture. Much in style of 80s Jamaican riddims, you could strip Tegan and Sara’s vocals off these tracks and drop in someone else, and it wouldn’t feel misplaced all. The difference being where Tegan and Sara used to shape and craft their songs to their earnest vulnerability and poetic frankness, here, Kurstin summons some all-purpose beats and sets the twins vocals over the top. Instead, we got a pop album featuring Tegan and Sara. It seems everyone was hoping for THE Tegan and Sara pop album. Those two things cannot save a hookless pop song. But, the difference between pop and indie, is that powerful lyrics and earnest emotion can save a hookless rock song. I’m not necessarily a fan, but mainstream critics are way too hard on her, and tend to forget the very real issue of sexism when a certain golden boy needlessly makes very sexist remarks towards her). (I’m not going to dis Taylor Swift here. They’ve put in the roadwork and finally, in a homogenous pop-zone, something unique! We don’t need another Robin Thicke. And let’s be frank, everyone wanted Tegan and Sara to conquer the pop world. So, with the measured experiment a success, the duo threw in all their chips with Kurstin, making him the pop-muse to their indie songwriting strength on Love You to Death. But, yet, on top of that, all the songs bore the unquestionable mark of this sorta-alt sorta-mainstream duo. Supported by mega-slick-producer Greg Kurstin (he-of-Geggy Tah… remember “Whoever you are�), Tegan and Sara cut some of their catchiest singles, including the monster dance-jams “Now I’m all messed up†and “Closer.†But, not only where those tunes catchy, they had substance. How many times can you do the gentle-cooing-reflective slab? So, it really was no surprise when the sisters started flirting with straight up pop on Morgan Page’s monster single, “Body Work.†With that anchor landed, the sisters took a some tactical shots at pure-popdom on 2013’s Heartthrob… and those shots worked. They’ve been slugging it out over twenty years with the indie-rock thing, and frankly, between So Jealous and The Con, they’ve pretty much mastered the form. You can’t fault Tegan and Sara for wanting to go pop.
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