Music
Preview
Interpol announce new album: The Other Side Of Make-Believe
The band share their thoughts on their first new record in four years, along with a video for new single, 'Toni'
Interpol are moving in the right direction. Singing the words like a mantra on their first new single, ‘Toni’, the band are uncharacteristically optimistic about where things are headed.
“There are a lot of songs on [the new album] with a triumphant energy, where the chorus sounds uplifting and hopeful and melodic,” says lead vocalist Paul Banks, talking at an album launch event to promote his upcoming seventh record, The Other Side Of Make-Believe. “It was reassuring to be working on music that had a more positive sentiment to it, especially with the state of the world right now… I was trying to tap into more resistant attitudes in me, instead of the morose ones. Because there’s enough of that as it was.”
Announcing The Other Side Of Make-Believe for a July 15 release date ahead of their 2022 world tour, Interpol also released the first video from the new record – collaborating with director Van Alpert (Post Malone, Machine Gun Kelly) on ‘Toni’, the first instalment of a two-part dance film.
Playing tracks from the new record at the launch event, Interpol spoke about working with producer Flood (New Order, Nine Inch Nails, Depeche Mode) to evolve their sound into something more emotional – previewing a range of new songs that mark an exciting new shift for the band, somehow bigger and more intimate at the same time, while still holding on to the atmosphere and weight of their earlier sound.
“Yeah, I could focus on how f**ked everything is, but I feel now is the time when being hopeful is necessary, and a still-believable emotion within what makes Interpol Interpol,” adds lead guitarist Daniel Kessler. “The process of writing this record and searching for tender, resonant emotions took me back to teenage years; it was transformative, almost euphoric. I felt a rare sensation of purpose biting on the end of my fishing rod and I was compelled to reel it in.”
The Other Side Of Make Believe is out on July 15 at Matador Records and is available to preorder now. Interpol are playing two London dates in June, with limited tickets available here.
