Tegan & Sara Still Have Time To Chat

Our look at the closing lines of new music reviews continues with a roundup of reactions to Sainthood, the sixth studio album by Canadian sister act Tegan & Sara: • “Yet listening to Sainthood — to its odd structural disjunctions and shifting lyrical uncertainties — it’s difficult to imagine that the sisters would make records as powerful if they continued to try to work in that way. Tegan and Sara’s music may no longer be the stuff of teens, but its strength remains in how much it feels like two people talking.” [Mikael Wood, Spin] • “’Hell,’ a murky, bass-driven dirge that makes the most of the sisters’ eerie harmonies, is the obvious single, while the requisite oddball instrumental is the Tropicalia-influenced ‘Alligator.’ As for lyrics you can plug into an angsty blog post, it doesn’t get any more tormented than the possessive ‘On Directing,’ in which the sisters yearn for a stand-in for love. Feeling 16 feels alright.” [Chandler Levack, Eye WEEKLY] • “It may be unfair to split them so clearly, but Sara seems like the artist and Tegan the pop kid. She definitely writes and sings the catchier tunes; her ‘The Cure’ sounds like the hit single from the album, ‘Northshore’ is a punky blast of fun, and her other tracks aren’t far behind in the hook department. That’s not to say that Sara can’t write catchy songs (her ‘Alligator’ would be the second single); they are just a little less open and more mysterious. There’s a depth to her writing that Sara’s songs don’t always have. That’s OK, though, because it’s the contrast between their writing styles and voices, slight as they may be, that works to make Sainthood another rich and rewarding album.” [Tim Sendra, All Music Guide]