Album Review: Tegan And Sara - Heartthrob

If you thought Canada's favourite siblings were getting close to their obligatory, clique, deep and mature record, reflecting on their six previous studio-album discography, spanning 13 years… you were wrong. The girls may have reached their early 30s, but their sound is as teen-pop as ever. In fact, one might go so far as to say that this is their most teen-heartthrob record to date, which is coincidental, as it's also the title of the record (minus the 'teen' for credibility purposes, obviously).

This is, first and foremost, a pop album. Whereas in the past the girls have had a knack for blurring the lines between genres, in Heartthrob we find them categorically positioned as pop singers. This is not to say that, lyrically, they're in any way less of the best friend/older sibling that they've been to any teenager in the last decade, dealing with first love, infatuation, or worse yet, rejection and break-up. It's more that they lack that darker, indie component that has oriented their music toward a very generational specific audience in the past. As much as it will pain any Tegan And Sara die-hard fan to hear, it feels like the duo are attempting to make their music more accessible for a wider breadth of audiences, and in doing so, kinda give the impression of selling out to the Bieber/Swift bandwagon. This is substantiated by their collaboration with pop music production icon Greg Kurstin. Having said all this, it is nice to see the pair rediscovering the lyrical and aesthetic cohesion they lacked on their previous release, Sainthood (perhaps with the exception of Drove Me Wild).

All in all, this is by no means the Quin sisters' best release to date and, what's more, it leaves its listeners a little melancholic that they haven't released something a little deeper, nor recaptured their rhythmic indie vibe of old.