Twin Cinemas

The New Pornographers really know how to put a smile upon your face (though not always a happy one), make you raise your hands up high and sing along to every ‘oh’ and ‘ah’ in their songs. Their music is, above all, infectious, upbeat, sugar-coated pop. No excuses and no pretences. And that’s what makes them feel so close to your heart. They never fail to deliver, though their albums sometimes have cracks in them. Those cracks do not ruin anything just make it more human.

So there should be no wonder their fifth studio material, Together, feels your heart with such joy from the first riff of the opening piece, Moves. Like the rest of the album, the song flows out of the speakers effortlessly. It give the impression these guys write these great songs in a heartbeat. Like so many other times, Carl Newman’s falsettos are delightful. In fact, all the vocals shine undeniably. Dan Bejar’s somehow blaze voice makes each song feel immensely idiosyncratic and Neko Case’s warm voice gives a feeling of homeliness and familiar grounds even when the chord shifts might be too adventurous.

The instrumentals exist to compliment the vocals. However, this does not mean that they themselves don’t stand on their own. In fact, the marriage between the two is perfect and creates an aural beauty that lingers on long after the song is over. Each chiming guitar, each bubbly synth line and each sparkly cymbal is played with dedication and adds to make this sonic experience unique and heartfelt.

It should be noted that, while each songs could be a piece on its own, Together is to be listened head to bottom. The way the songs are placed, the way they flows into the other and each seems (if not lyrically, then instrumentally) a continuation of the one before makes the album a world of its on, independent of any context and element in the exterior. And, more important, the songs are a wonderful and majestic trip into this world, a world whose beauty constantly reminds us of The New Pornos’ great tunesmith.