Back in black
Interpol has mostly sat on the sidelines since 2007’s disappointing Our Love to Admire, so their fourth album’s eponymous title feels like a statement of purpose: “We’re back, and we’re more us than ever.” The songs just about prove it, too. Though the record meanders into aimless moping in its final third, most of the 10 tracks are bold, heavy and among Interpol’s best. Debut Turn on the Bright Lights presented pitch-black landscapes of reverb, Antics brimmed with taut, sharp hooks, and the new record fuses the two, with Paul Banks’ tight vocals wandering through the shadows. The guitar/bass/piano interplay of “Summer Well” could soundtrack a dance party of the damned, and the slow-pulsing “Lights,” with its echoed “That is why I hold you!” chorus, is perfectly unsettling. Nice to have you back, fellas.