Challengers / The New Pornographers

Just to show you I don’t hate change, I fuckin’ LOVE The New Pornographers‘ Challengers, and sometimes I get the feeling I’m the only one. For years now, absolutely nobody has done the hyperdense hyperactive pop monstrosity as well as the New Pornographers, and a first pass at Challengers is going to feel bizarrely calm.

Besides the immediacy of “Mutiny, I Promise You” and “All the Things That Go To Make Heaven and Earth,” most of the tracks are mid-tempo meditations with slow builds and modest climaxes, much more in tune with Carl Newman’s “Slow Wonder” than say, the cranked to 11 hookishness of Electric Version. The three Dan Bejar efforts are distinctively Destroyer, with loopy vocal reads of Bejar’s unique lyrics, with “Myriad Harbor” being a particular standout. The arrangements have a little more room to breathe, and both Kathryn Calder and Neko Case provide a sensuous lilt to their vocals. Case’s waltzy “Go Places” is positively stunning, and the instrumentation’s as bare as any New Pornographers track ever. This is probably the least Neko of any of their records, with Calder slowly growing into the role of lead vocalist. The crawling build of “Adventures in Solitude” is exquisite, and Calder’s subtle vocal turns are why.

If you’re waiting to be slammed in the face with overlapping vocals and soaring instrumentation you’ll finish the record with a frown on your face. I found the record to be a grower though, with seductive melodies that came at me sideways and backwards, insinuating themselves in my life just as insidiously as “Letter to an Occupant” did so many years ago. Are there faults? Sure. The album art is fucking awful, for one thing. Even still, no album has spent as much time in my head and my heart this year as Challengers, whatever that’s worth.

MP3: My Rights Versus Yours
MP3: Myriad Harbour
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