Interpol - Interpol

Interpol - Interpol
Genre: Indie
Rating: 5/10

Few albums released this year could really match the anticipation of Interpol's self titled 4th outing. The band unfortunately are plagued with a fan base at war with itself like many bands these days are. Their prolific career started with a bang with the release of "Turn On The Bright Lights" which instantly turned them into cult indie heroes. The record itself was a beautiful mix of slow laid back indie awash in reverb and fast groovey  dance tunes with hints of grandeur slowly seeping through it. This for many of their fans set a standard that has not been surpassed or even recreated since. Whilst I agree that Interpol's debut is their strongest album I am not in any way hoping for them to recreate that same album again and again to apease the masses.

However this latest offering from the new york based band has left me disappointed. The music follows off in quite a similar style to their previous offering "Our Love To Admire" which contained their first attempts at creating bold, cinematic music. Unfortunately whilst "Our Love To Admire" managed this very well on tracks such as "Wrecking Ball" nothing on this album really grabs the listener here. The first half of the album provides the most solid tracks like "Lights" and opener "Success" both quite brooding and understated to start with but slowly build to fantastic conclusions. Unfortunately as the album progresses the band tend to over reach and the whole "cinematic sound" feels forced and tired often leaving you with the feeling that songs are building towards a moment that never comes.

Whilst I would not say this album is terrible it is far from perfect. Interpol's frontman Paul Banks released a solo album under the moniker Julian Plenti just last year that has surpassed this album in everything it tries to do. That said if you are a long time fan of the band or intrigued try it before you buy it.

Download: "Lights" "Success"