Tegan and Sara
Heartthrob
2.5 stars
Pop
What was once a beautiful and one-off indie-rock duo, Tegan and Sara has journeyed into a dangerous territory of overly electronic disco-like pop. The duo’s latest effort, Heartthrob, is a dive into a more mainstream sound for the band.
Although certain tracks are too catchy and fun to truly bash, most are too oddly reminiscent of Cyndi Lauper-esque songs (“Now I’m All Messed Up” has many qualities similar to “Time After Time”) to be exempt from criticism.
Though the artists’ angsty lyrics, for the most part, survived the twins’ musical makeover, Heartthrob’s sound very well could be almost too new for old fans’ liking.
The best tracks of the album (“Closer,” “I Was a Fool”) have a sound reminiscent of Swedish pop star Robyn. They’re exciting and memorable. Unfortunately, the album’s remaining eight songs have a made for radio sound that’s noticeable and irritating. “Love They Say” is probably the most obvious example of this.
Though the sisters have gotten older, Heartthrob emanates the artists’ regression to a teenage sound. As a Tegan and Sara album, Heartthrob has, in fact, proved to be less of a heartthrob and more of a heartache for the sisters sans an uncomfortably obvious longing for pop stardom.
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