Indie-Rock
On their fifth studio album, The New Pornographers’ bandleader A.C. Newman claims that he was trying to create music that was a cross between, “Led Zeppelin and The 5th Dimension.” Now there’s an after-show party we’d all like to crash. After we’d shooed the 5-piece harmonies from our ears and shaken the seafood out of various orifices, we might need to wind down with a set of songs that are both chilled out and hard rocking, at once stadium-sized and emotionally wrought…well, look no further than the latest album from the party curators themselves, "Together"!
A Belle and Sebastian for those that find the Scottish indie darlings slightly too twee for their tastes, The New Pornographers kick off their album with the string-heavy, ‘The Moves’, with its orchestral riffs slicing through the percussion section with devil-may-care tweaks and flourishes, sounding as Hendrix would have, had he swapped his Stratocaster for a cello, (try setting that on fire and escaping with your flares intact, Jimi…) The call and answer harmonies of the male and female vocals on ‘The Crash Years’ echoes the country songs of yesteryear, where Johnny and June Cash would trade vocal, each one supporting the other in melodic freefall.
Utilising an array of innovative instrumentation and anti-formulaic song structures, ‘Together’ somehow manages to tread the line of being instantly accessible whilst simultaneously enduring countless replays. There are too many gems amongst this jewellery store case of an album to pick out a genuine favourite; however, ‘If You Can’t See My Mirrors’s lightweight bridge, “pissed up Sunday morning, we’ll miss you when go, go gently through the floor” will plaster a smile on even the most hungover of grouches, a musical hair of the dog on God’s day of rest.
Littered with star studded, (at least in indie rock circles) guest slots, ‘Together’ reads like the address book Zach Braff wishes he had, with the Okkervil River’s illustrious frontman Will Sheff lending backing vocals to a few tracks, while Zach ‘Beirut’ Condon swings by to lend a tune or two. It proves how well respected TNP are within their chosen industry that they can call on such talented names at the drop of a hat…let’s hope that they don’t spoil it all and soundtrack the next season of Scrubs.