The Canadian indie-rock band The New Pornographers have graced the new year with a new single from their upcoming album, “Really Really Light,” from “Continue as a Guest”, set to release on March 31st with Merge Records. Singer/guitarist A.C. Newman took an old track written by Destroyer’s Dan Bejar that didn’t make their 2014 album “Brill Bruisers” and reworked it into something new. It has a classic feel to it, with Newman drawing inspiration from artists like Jeff Lynne and Tom Petty.
The best New Pornographers songs are more than the sum of their very talented parts. That’s the case for several tracks on “Continue As Guest”, the ninth album from the band, whose members now include A.C. Newman, Neko Case, Kathryn Calder, Todd Fancey, John Collins and Joe Seiders. Longtime member Dan Bejar co-wrote the opening track “Really Really Light” with Newman but is otherwise uncredited on the LP, which was largely recorded remotely.
Standout track “Bottle Episodes” captures the claustrophobia and societal breakdown common in pandemic-era music, but Newman’s perspective is as razor-sharp as ever: “Seen you with some famous shadows, not familiar but I’ve seen the names / And the two-way mirrors on the ceiling stretch them into funhouse shapes / Here inside the TV glow of these bottle episodes.”
Players:
A.C. Newman – vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards
John Collins – bass, guitar, keyboards
Joe Seiders – drums, vocals
Kathryn Calder – keyboards, vocals
Neko Case – vocals
Todd Fancey – guitar
Zach Djanikian – bass, guitar, soprano and tenor saxophones
Additional player:
Paul Rigby – pedal steel
The New Pornographers’ new album ‘Continue as a Guest’ out 3/31/23 on Merge Records.
The Fat Angel Sings 