Continue As A Guest – Merge Records
The familiar guitars and vocals – but add in some synthy bleeps and bloops. Horns! Whoa, stop the presses! What a brilliant start to this banging new album by the Canadian all-star band, The New Pornographers. Yes, I am obviously a fan and yes, I am excited about this one. Continue as Guest takes off and keeps churning out indie pop gems one after the other, showcasing their collective talent and amazing skill to turn a phrase and play with melodies. Ten wonderful tracks to fill the space, as they beg for listen after listen. The atmosphere is like past outings, but the vibe and patterns twist in new ways that would make the late Burt Bacharach proud. Twenty-three years later after their debut, they are still pulling out new tricks to keep our addiction to the syrupy sounds going.
The New Pornographers have a way with hooks, and nowhere is that more evident than on track #4, “Last and Beautiful.” This is power pop at its core, with AC Newman and Neko Case sharing chorus duties on a slow burner. Another slow turn is track #5, the title track, “Continue As A Guest,” which features a sweet low down bassline, then followed by funky sax stylings, much like a mid-80s rocker! Really digging track #3, “Cat and Mouse with the Light,” Neko again helms a track that flirts in the clouds.
Other fine tracks include track #10, “Wish Automatic Suite,” with its dreamy pop and a bouncy synth that bookends the album, as the sounds are layered throughout most of the tracks. The song goes at this pace until ¾ in, when the mood shifts to a more serious tone. Watch out, as the last 45 seconds or so slowly fade out the chorus until the end. Track 9, “Firework in the Falling Snow,” has shimmering sax echoes that give it a bump and an edge. Track 6, “Bottle Episodes,” may be the best mix of older vintage New Pornographers with the current sound – steady pop with that fine sax filling in the spaces.
It is not surprising that The New Pornographers have successfully created an album that sounds like a classic TNP record, and yet it brings in new flourishes and sounds that make it fresh, modern, and show maturation and progression. This is a finely tuned album that I’m sure will reward listeners with each listen.
Track listing –
1: Really Really Light
2: Pontius Pilate’s Home Movies
3: Cat and Mouse With the Light
4: Last and Beautiful
5: Continue as a Guest
6: Bottle Episodes
7: Marie and the Undersea
8: Angelcover
9: Firework in the Falling Snow
10: Wish Automatic Suite
My faves are: 3**, 10**, 4**, 9**, 5*, and 6**.
– (h)earwitness