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Tegan and Sara Heartthrob

½ out of five

POP • Big. There really are no other words that truly encapsulate Heartthrob, the latest effort from Calgaryborn sister duo Tegan and Sara. Musically, sonically, melodically, thematically and, yes, ambitiously, the album is writ in uppercase and bold, an electro pop record meant for heavy rotations, larger rooms, DJ remixes and massive mainstream success. It’s a calculated decision — although one that’s not entirely out of character or jarring in the sense of the evolution of their 15-year career — and one that yields results that are as immediate as they are catchy. Most of the songs such as first single Closer, with its undercurrent of OMD, and I Couldn’t Be Your Friend, which finds some sweet jangle inside of the robo-programming, benefit from their inflated approach and go down so easy, begging repeated returns. The only problem is that sometimes, when everything is painted in broad strokes, some of the little things, the subtleties and the smaller emotions, a sense of soul, intimacy — foundations that the pair have built their collective career on — get lost for the sake of that bigness. Take a song such as Now I’m All Messed Up, which, reined in, synthed back, could be the gut-punch of past T&S heartbreaks, but instead sounds like something Rihanna could cover with little alteration. That, though, is obviously something Tegan and Sara are willing to sacrifice when looking at the big picture.