The music sounds serene with spongy guitar and angelic backing vocals when Interpol frontman Paul Banks sings, “This mirror weighs a ton, but at least we act sudden” with staccato conviction. That turn of phrase, which gives both the band’s eighth album and lead track its title, This Mirror Weighs a Ton, frankly doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, and that’s sort of the point since Banks came up with it while improvising the melodies and vocals simultaneously. It’s highly refined automatic writing, and the band said it sets up the rest of the album, due out Aug. 28. They also released another song from the record, “See Out Loud,” which features similarly opaque lyrics but a heavier beat, a little more guitar, and a feel that’s all the more “Interpol.”
The group cut the album with producer Andrew Wyatt (Rosalía, Charli XCX) at Wyatt’s Manhattan studio, marking the first time in more than a decade that Interpol have recorded at the city they call home. They said they augmented their sound this time with strings, woodwinds, acoustic guitar, and more textured vocal harmonies. “See Out Loud” also features the first time guitarist Daniel Kessler has contributed vocals since Turn on the Bright Lights‘ “PDA.”
“I was right next to Andrew when he started doing these incredible things with the sound design, and it was just so exciting,” Kessler said of the song “This Mirror Weighs a Ton” in a statement. “I remember thinking, I don’t have context for what kind of music this is — these big crashes happening before Paul even had a vocal. Logic would have said maybe this is an instrumental. Then Paul just got up, went into the back room and started singing those melodies — and suddenly it was clearly not going to be.”
“I wondered what it would be like to keep the parts perfectly legible, because everyone in that band writes such great parts. And to add some different spatial dimensions to it,” Wyatt said. “It was something almost a little bit more like chamber music — the musical ideas bear scrutiny without needing the sonic treatment of it to carry all the weight. It was also nice to add a trick or two I picked up over a couple decades of making pop records.”
They’ll support the release this summer with a run of North American dates that will find them variously either supporting Sombr or getting support from Youth Lagoon, Loathe, Diiv and others. Ticketing details are on Interpol’s website.
This Mirror Weighs a Ton Track List
1. “This Mirror Weighs a Ton”
2. “See Out Loud”
3. “Iron City”
4. “Wounded Soldier”
5. “Wings on Fire”
6. “Ever the Actor”
7. “So Rides the Reindeer”
8. “Darling Thoughts”
9. “Wake Up”
10. “Enemy”
11. “Bird and the Serpent”
12. “Sudden”
Interpol Tour Dates
July 31 – Denver, CO @ Mission Ballroom **
Aug. 2 – Jackson Hole, WY @ Snow King Mountain **
Aug. 3 – Boise, ID @ Revolution Concert House **
Aug. 4 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Red Butte Garden **
Aug. 6 – Portland, OR @ McMenamins Edgefield ***
Aug. 8 – Tacoma, WA @ Dune Peninsula ***
Aug. 11– San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield ****
Aug. 14 – Santa Barbara, CA @ Santa Barbara Bowl ****
Aug. 15 – San Diego, CA @ The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park ****
Aug. 16 – Las Vegas, NV @ The Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas ****
Sept. 26 – Brooklyn, NY @ CBGB Festival
Sept. 29 – Vancouver, BC @ Rogers Arena *
Oct. 2 – Toronto, ON @ The Bowl at Sobeys Stadium *****
Oct. 3 – Montreal, QC @ L’Olympia *****
Oct. 4 – Boston, MA @ Roadrunner *****
Oct. 6 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE *****
Oct. 7– Cleveland, OH @ The Agora *****
Oct. 9 – Detroit, MI @ Masonic Jack White Theatre *****
Oct. 10 – Columbus, OH @ KEMBA Live! Outdoors *****
Oct. 11 – Chicago, IL @ The Salt Shed Fairgrounds *****
Oct. 13 – St. Louis, MO @ The Factory *****
Oct. 15 – Atlanta, GA @ The Eastern *****
Oct. 16 – Atlanta, GA @ The Eastern *****
Oct. 17 – Nashville, TN @ The Pinnacle *******
* supporting Sombr
** support from Youth Lagoon
*** support from Loathe
**** support from Julie
***** support from Diiv
****** support from French Police
******* support from Diiv and French Police
