The New Pornographers They’ve been involved in the search for the perfect album for years, or at least that’s what it might seem from his obsession with crystalline harmonies, generous orchestration and well-rounded indie-pop songs. A titanic company that, to this day and after almost a quarter of a century of career, seems to continue to shine on the horizon of a formation that has already touched the target on occasion along the way, specifically thanks to titles such as “Mass Romantic” (Matador, 00), “Twin Cinema” (Matador, 05) or “Challengers” (Matador, 07).
It gives off identical sensations “Continue As A Guest”, the first album by the Canadians for the renowned Merge label owned by Superchunk Mac McCaughan and Laura Ballance, through ten new songs that once again pay special attention to the melodies and voice games between Carl Newman and Neko Case (with that achieved and attractive masculine/feminine contrast), in addition to propping up the clean line of some structures that affect that tendency (non-negotiable within the group) consisting of polishing the possible gems of the lot. A section in which topics such as “Angel cover”the single “Pontius Pilate’s Home Movies”, “Bottle Episodes”the snapshot “Really Really Light”, “Cat And Mouse With The Light” or that half time that gives title to the release.
The reference presents, for better or for worse, few relevant novelties with respect to the usual catalog of the combo and, if anything, some more established or mature pieces could be perceived, which should not be surprising considering the longevity of the project. With a good general level, “Continue As A Guest” is another installment of The New Pornographers that reaches the notable, with those from Vancouver looking like reliable machinery when it comes to billing a quite specific type of song, solvent and built on solid parameters.