Interpol's 4th album carries an irony in it's self-titled name. The band is no longer joined by it's iconic bassist, Carlos D, and for the most part Interpol seems like a journey into finding Interpol again with great production but not as much luck.
It has been 8 years since the New York band released their golden debut album, Turn On The Bright Lights, and with it helped launched a great era of post-punk revival in the sound of NYC. Since then they have released other albums that although weren't as brilliant as Bright Lights, they were still quite excellent and true to Interpol's spirit. Unfortunately, their latest piece sounds more like Interpol went out to do some soul searching, but returned with only half the journey done.
The opening track, "Success", sounds as most quintessential Interpol as the album gets, but even then you don't feel it in you're bones. To me Interpol's music, like The Killers, has a knack for hitting me in my emotive core. As the song climaxed and then came to a full stop, I didn't feel a plug being pulled. If there is one thing the I really do like about this album, is the continuous flow of the songs. They are all made for each other, with no particular stand-out song (except maybe "The Undoing"). If you took one of the songs out, the album would feel incomplete. As the album progresses, heartbreak is explored. Songs like "Memory Serves" and "Summer Well" reminisce the elements of a failed relationship. As the album comes to a close you can see a light at the end of tunnel with "The Undoing", a hopeful tune that mixes English and Spanish lyrics. As the song develops you get the sense that the band finally accepted that they aren't the post-punk revivalists that they started as, and that they can now indulge in their evolution, giving way to what can hopefully be a very fruitful next album.
With Interpol you can say that at their strongest, a false sense of security still slips through the cracks. Dichotomies change as time progresses and perhaps it's the fact they are one man down, and involved in other side projects that has led them away from their core. If they just stuck to what they were going through at the time then they would have properly achieved Interpol 2010, instead of trying to sound like Interpol 2002.
By S. Torres
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