Late Wednesday night, fashionable New York City post-punk quartet Interpol heralded their yet-to-be-titled new album, expected this summer, by leaking “Lights,” a dark and brooding track that’s about as vital to Interpol’s sound as tailored suits are to their image. Download it below!
The near-six-minute track opens with playing a reverb-y electric guitar lead and frontman Paul Banks singing in his icy, robotronic vocals: “Show me the ways to meet my desires with some grace… What if I never break? That’s why I hold you near!”
And that “really drenched” lead guitar work Daniel Kessler promised? It’s back and in full effect. His twinkling, ambient riffs build to an apex and then the band’s muscular rhythm section — drummer Sam Fogarino and bassist Carlos D — kick into a snappy dance beat. It’s haunting, slightly Joy Division-y — and classic Interpol.
But what about the rest of the album? Last December, Banks said fans can expect an “elegant, orchestral quality” to the new songs. “Carlos has gone to total new levels of crazy sophisticated orchestration,” the frontman said.
“It’s very atmospheric but it sounds really different in my mind,” Banks added. “What we’ve worked on is a real step forward and just very different and very relaxed in what we’re doing, but it certainly doesn’t sound like anything we’ve ever done before, to me.”
Interpol recently scheduled a run of six dates this summer opening for U2. The gigs are the band’s first since 2008, when they took a break to pursue other artistic endeavors — Banks a solo project as Julian Plenti, Fogarino released a new album with his band Magnetic Morning, and Carlos D worked in film, directing, scoring, and acting in My Friends Told Me About You.
Download “Lights” below (in exchange for your email address, which goes to the band), then tell us what you think in the comment section.
