Tegan and Sarah progress to pop

Canadian indie rock/pop duo consisting of identical twins, Tegan and Sara, focused their fifth album, “The Con,” on establishing a more complex and adult sound. Their sixth album, “Sainthood,” contains punchier, more energetic ditties that sound more like the girls’ most commercial album to date, “So Jealous.”
The bulk of the tracks seem to have less of an acoustic flavor than their previous albums, harnessing more electronic influences, especially the first single on the album, “Hell,” and the opening number, “Arrow.” With more fire and pizzazz as the foundation of this album, Tegan and Sara may be able to expand their fan base to include the high school set.
However, this may also mean that their longtime fans, who learned to love their more acoustic melodies and lyrical complexity, will be yearning for the indie rock twins to get back to their roots, as in the albums “Under Feet Like Ours” and “This Business of Art.” Tegan and Sara’s songwriting prowess as individuals and not as a duo is showcased on this album with only one co-written track, “Paperback Head.”
One of the catchier tracks is “On Directing” and it’s sure to get toes tapping and heads bobbing. The song best shows the lyrical simplicity of “Sainthood” with the words, “Go steady with me/I know it turns you off when I get talking like a teen.” A far cry from the more complex, metaphor-laden lyrics of songs like “Burn Your Life Down” from “The Con”: “You wake up in the night and refuse to be afraid of it now/unfolding pieces of it faster.”
Though this release of Tegan and Sara’s may be poppier than most, they never lose their artistic integrity and credibility, which made many of their fans fall in love with them in the first place. This particular album simply and temporarily sets those piano-led ballads and slower acoustic tracks to the side in favor of more up-tempo synth pop grooves that just beg their listeners to move their body and sing along, while never losing their emotion-fueled lyrics.
The latest release of Tegan and Sara’s is truly a collection of love songs. Love that’s been lost, found, enjoyed, forgotten, unrequited and desired — moments in life that everyone can relate to. Though the tracks on this album may not embrace their usual sound, this album is still definitely worth a listen.
Grade: A-