Secret Meeting score: 80

by Philip Moss

If there’s been one overriding criticism of Interpol over the years, it’s how can they develop their sound? So distinctive it is that in some ways it has become the proverbial albatross around their neck.

In the lead up to the release of their seventh album, Marauder, much of the talk from within the camp has been a shift in direction. But just four bars into lead single, The Rover, it really does not appear to be the case. However, more so than previous efforts, this is a record laced with groove that you could certainly dance to.

Opener, If You Really Love Nothing, struts over rumbling drums, as Paul Banks jumps between a new found falsetto and his trademark croon – delivering his strongest vocal melody since Pace Is The Trick on 2007’s career highlight, Our Love To Admire. Lyrically, it’s a typically macabre affair – ‘When I find my home, the next artery, splendid I bled my whole life, so it’s probably a kiss goodbye then’ – but where much of the patchy last album, 2014’s El Pintor, was Interpol by numbers and found the band staggering like a three-legged dog following the departure of bassist, Carlos Dengler, Marauder feels recharged. Daniel Kessner’s guitars are classic Interpol, but with producer, Dave Fridmann (Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev, Spoon), encouraging the band to ditch technology and record direct to analogue tape, his guitar stabs have an extra bark and intensity not felt since Antics.

In fact, across this thirteen-song collection, which includes two droning synth interludes, only Mountain Child feels half hashed. Complications and Flight of Fancy are both sure to be live favourites on the upcoming tour. Number 10 is an ocean of surf-inspired guitars that underpins a sordid office romance between a young narrator and his older boss – ‘Your secret’s safe here, it’ll never leave. It’s in the basement for ya’. While closer, It Probably Matters, has a glitzy R&B nostalgia and swinging choral refrain that feels lazily vital.

So have Interpol developed their sound? Slightly, if you listen hard enough. But what they have done is refocused. This is a strong set of very well written songs that harks back to what the band do best. If they haven’t ticked your boxes so far over the last fifteen or so years then this is unlikely to change your mind. But if you’re an Interpol fan, get ready to drop the needle and put on your dancing shoes because there’s an awful lot here for you to love and admire.

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