I've been asked by a few people why I haven't written a review of Tegan and Sara's new album or recent shows even though I had reviewed their last album and am an admittedly very big fan of the Canadian twosome. However, it's because I've become such a huge fan that I've been hesitant to write anything about T&S lately.
As a critic (if I may call myself one) I think you have to allow yourself to be honest with your feelings in regard to a specific work be it a film, album, book or what have you. And, in all honesty, I think whatever those two girls do, will do or have done is (for the most part) pure unadulterated genius. It's the kind of genius that affects me so deeply, so profoundly that every brilliant move is illuminated tenfold and every misstep only serves to help appreciate said greatness all the more. That's right folks-Tegan and Sara have entered George Lucas territory.
If I were to tell you that "Sainthood" is one of only two albums of 2009 (the other being Bat for Lashes' "Two Suns") that absolutely deserve to be on your current rotation at all times, would you take me at my word or write me off as a mere fanboy? Whatever your opinion, my feelings on the matter are absolute: Tegan and Sara have entered the pantheon of only the most elite groups whose output grows by leaps and bounds with each new album and whose career seems to have been earmarked for greatness since its very earliest stages. Their previous, "The Con," deserves every ounce of praise it has garnered and then some. It is one of the definitive works of the past decade, an album that will stand the test of time and find greater resonance with each passing year.
So if "The Con" is their "Rumors" then it only seems fitting that the follow up, "Sainthood," is every bit the band's "Tusk." The sharp divide between the songwriting styles and thematic obsessions between the two has never been more clearly defined than it is here. Synth-heavy dance tracks co-mingle with loud and edgy power-punk anthems but beneath it all lies a very real, very raw heart.
The album begins with one of Sara Quin's tracks, "Arrow." We then move to the more familiar (and I don't mean that as a pejorative) sound of Tegan's "Don't Rush" & "Hell." Both are much more direct in their lyrics and meaning than Sara's "Arrow" which is layered in metaphor and nuance. It's the contrast between these first tracks that will come to define the rest of the album's sound.
While on first listen "Sainthood" might seem like a less cohesive work than "The Con," in its own way it reveals itself as just as conceptual a piece as its predecessor. The album's last track, "Someday" by Tegan, seems more like a payoff than just a conclusion. You could surmise that all of the songs on the album are very much about relationships but Tegan's songs seem to be more specific, building a kind of narrative through movements spaced out by Sara's more eccentric offerings. "Someday" then is the logical point of arrival with it's declamatory verse, "Mark my words I might be something someday."
But if Tegan is the storyteller then Sara is clearly the analyst, working out her shit through song-melody and structure, form and shape. It only makes sense that Sara's songs would be more experimental in nature. Here she is pushing her own sonic boundaries, asking questions of herself by crafting tracks that are distinctly different than anything she has done before on a Tegan and Sara album leaving us with a far greater impression of her imagination and creativity than ever before.
It has its detractors, some of whom are fans. I know this and yet I still embrace "Sainthood" with all the feverish passion I can muster. It's the kind of album I cherish and Tegan and Sara is the kind of band I always hoped I would get to experience in my lifetime rather than just hear stories of how great they were way back when.
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