Album Review: Tegan and Sara Ignite A Shock To Your System With New Album “Heartthrob”

By: Chris D’Alessandro –

The latest album from Juno Award and 2013 Grammy Award nominees Tegan and Sara, titled Heartthrob, might take you by surprise.

With Heartthrob, the Quin sisters have outgrown their guitar driven melodies that defined their earlier work and have instead opted for a more commercial sounding synth pop where keyboards and drum-machines abound, which also made appearances on 2009’s Sainthood.

There’s a lot going on with this record in terms of musical direction. It’s very busy and is often hard to place into anyone specific genre. At times it feels in line with contemporary pop-music, with the opening track and latest single “Closer” being a perfect example. However, tracks like “I Was a Fool” take its sounds from R&B.

This musical identity crisis may stem from the album’s multiple producers, including Greg Kurstin (P!nk, Kelly Clarkson), Mike Elizondo (Dr. Dre, Eminem), and Justin Meldal-Johnson (Beck, Nine Inch Nails).

Those are three producers, from very different musical backgrounds, influencing two ladies who have taken that eclectic mix of noise and created something that has effectively redefined their once-known indie rock driven aesthetic.

While tracks like “I Was a Fool” and “Love They Say” could have ended up on either Britney Spears’ or Christina Aguilera’s smash hit albums from the late ‘90s and early 2000s, Tegan and Sara have perfected a formula which combines radio-friendly hooks and choruses with dark and haunting lyrics which proves that their “new” electro-pop sound contains more depth than you thought.

The album hits its stride mid-way through, with tracks like, “Drove Me Wild” and “How Come You Don’t Want Me” feeling like the essential blend of all the genres.

By the end, it all comes together into something of a 1980s homage overture with ‘Shock To Your System,” which socks the listener a dose of reality and the courage to move on from what seems to be the recent dissolution of a relationship with lyrics like “you’re only meant to cry once in a while. Who gave you reason?” and the almost tribal chant of “what are you is lonely.”

Just because Heartthrob doesn’t sound like how you might have expected it to, doesn’t mean that you won’t be listening to it on an endless cycle.

Essential Tracks: “Shock To Your System,” “Drove Me Wild,” and “Closer.”