National Post (National Edition)
SISTER ACT
Tegan and Sara embrace pop with new album Heartthrob.
Members of Guns N’ Roses, Aerosmith and Ace of Bass were Tegan Quin’s first celebrity crushes, but as she got older, and her tastes matured, she moved onto members of New Kids on the Block, Paula Abdul and Janet Jackson.
“I didn’t have a true heartthrob again until my teenage years,” says Quin, one half of the sister duo act Tegan and Sara, riffing on early dream dates while promoting the group’s seventh album, the appropriately named Heartthrob. “I idolized the people I dated and think I’m like everybody else that, as an adult, you think you can’t have heartthrobs — but you’re secretly obsessed with everyone popular and attractive. There’s a lot of that happening in pop music right now.”
Pop music plays a large and deliberate role on Heartthrob, a record that was designed to catapult the Calgaryborn duo into a stadium-headlining act. After touring with The Black Keys and The Killers, and feeling frustrated with teetering record sales, they decided to go big on their new rec- ord with soaring choruses, singalong anthems and four different lifts on the same tune.
“If you want to drive on the highway and compete, you don’t drive a pedal bike. That doesn’t mean that the pedal bike isn’t awesome, but if you want to compete with the best cars, you have to step up your game,” says Sara Quin, interviewed just after her sister, honouring their long-held tradition of living in different cities and separately meeting the press. “We may never be Taylor Swift or Beyoncé, but on this, that was the challenge — don’t be subtle! If the song doesn’t grab you, throw it away.”
The 10 songs that earned a berth on the album — chosen from 50 and written after the classically trained musicians appeared on dance tracks by David Guetta and Tiësto — aren’t that radically different from material on records such as It Was You (2002) or The Con (2007). Yet here the guitars are turned down, the keys are turned up and the production sounds larger, both more expansive and more expensive (it’s produced in part by Greg Kurstin, whose clients include Kelly Clarkson and Pink). However, while the music soars and crescendos — sometimes subtly, sometimes not — toward ear worms, as always, Tegan and Sara’s lyrics deal with lust and busted relationships, and remain fixated on individual freedoms and rights.
“Even in moments of accepting our vulnerability and admitting our weakness, which we’re very good at, there’s an edge of empowerment to these songs and being outspoken about our sexuality and politics,” Tegan says, mentioning that being gay women in Alberta’s rock scene didn’t leave the sisters with many peers. Addressing this theme in the somewhat ironically titled song I’m Not Your Hero (the duo are absolutely heroes to their tightly knit community of fans), Sara says it’s about feeling insecure but being outspoken at the same time.
“I don’t want to let anyone down, but you’re always going to let someone down when you’re someone that people look up to,” she says. “I’m a spokesperson and know I have an impact on other queer and marginalized kids, but I can’t please everyone. Tegan and I have experienced this our whole career.”
The career of Tegan and Sara began in earnest when they were signed by Neil Young’s manager, who put the duo on the road with the Canadian icon, and throughout their 13-year span of recording and performing, they’ve charted a singular, trail-blazing path. To wit, they’ve outlasted just about every one of Tegan’s early heartthrobs, career-wise. If their new record can match their ambitions, the group will just be starting to turn a new page.
“We may not sell records like Katy Perry because we don’t have the full package being consumed en masse, but there’s no reason we should marginalize ourselves sonically,” Tegan says. “I love Rihanna, but how do I take that interest and combine that with our sound? The result is this album — let’s just take it over the edge.” Heartthrob by Tegan and Sara is out Jan. 29 on Warner Music Canada. They begin the Canadian leg of their North American tour in Winnipeg on Feb. 26. For tickets and more information, visit teganandsara.com.