TWINS KILLING IT
Tegan and Sara bring the hooks
Using the word “reinvention” when talking about Tegan and Sara these days is about as redundant as talking about the “vinyl revival”.
But there is truth in that tried- and-tested term to describe the Canadian twin sister duo.
Love You To Death takes the pop turnaround Tegan and Sara Quin had begun on previous album Heartthrob and brings it to completion.
Produced by Greg Kurstin, Tegan and Sara’s eighth studio album is an ebullient mix of ’80s-laced synth pop given a 21st Century sheen.
Lead single Boyfriend bubbles with percussive arpeggiated keys and fuzzy synthetic bass. The song is admittedly based on a relationship Sara had with a girl who had only ever had a boyfriend (“You call me up like I was your best friend/You turn me on like I was your boyfriend”) and Sara bemoaning, “I don’t wanna be your secret any more.”
Tortured relationships are still the crux of Tegan and Sara’s songwriting, and the insanely catchy nuggets on Love You To Death have a deeper meaning than their surface sheen. It makes for great pop that demands multiple listenings to peel back the layers.
The atmospheric White Knuckles arguably discusses Tegan and Sara’s own relationship, “My life tethered like a twin or a son/ Scared to be severed right before we begun.”
100X is a gauzy piano ballad that almost rings with a countryglam vibe (good friend T Swift would be proud, or may want to cover it), while B/W/U is about questioning the need for grandiose wedding celebrations.
The album ends on a hopeful — and somewhat lonesome — note with Hang On To The Night: “Hang on to yourself/No good’ll come from being untrue/Hang on to your heart/Loss is pain but it can save you.”
Reinvention? Sure. But the message remains the same.
Love You To Death takes the pop turnaround Tegan and Sara Quin had begun ... and brings it to completion.