Sainthood - Tegan and Sara

Tegan and Sara, those two Canadian identical twins whom have joined the indie-pop cruise around the music world release their 6^th LP amd om the outset it promises to be an excellent transformation from Under Feet Like Ours back in 1999. The twins have joined forces, once again, with Death Cab for Cutie guitarist, Chris Walla, on their development from teenage indie rock to a more adult music scene as they delve into darker and deeper subjects, yet still revolving around their common themes through their songs over the last 10 years - love and relationships. Over their 10 years of experience in the music industry, they are the hidden pioneers of indie rock and pop and now have grown into their own, after the hit album in 2007, The Con. Upon witnessing the surge to success of The Yeah Yeah Yeahs with Fever to Tell and It's Blitz, Tegan Quin and identical twin, Sara Quin, release their own record to mark the sudden mainstream popularity of indie rock and pop.

As producers tell fans that they should be prepared for a new and radical change from vintage Tegan and Sara, even more so that when The Con was released, this is supposedly the first record where both Tegan and Sara have written the album in unison. However, this does not seem to be the case with 2009's Sainthood. Fans have acknowledged the two distinct composing styles of Tegan and Sara; either siding towards Tegan's pop-oriented songs with a major focus of lyrics or Sara's deeper and more complex compositions, both musically and lyrically. This seems to be a constant throughout Sainthood as well, yet their content in different from their origins and for the better, especially in the mainstream music industry that the majority of society lives in, making it a more accessible record than previous ones.

Sainthood opens with Arrow, and is distinctively a Sara track with the opening synth lines. It provides a deeper and more 'adult' opening for an album with the repeating metaphor, 'feathers of an arrow' and truly sets the tone for Sainthood and their path to 'perfection'. Yet, Tegan still steals the majority of the album with her radio-friendly tracks as she writes those nice power-pop tracks with the ease of listening and mainstream popularity. Hell becomes the first single off the record, and the other obvious Tegan tracks would likely follow including In Directing, The Cure; Tegan's tribute to the Cure, which mimics the keyboard lines from their 1989 album Disintegration and the track Lovesong, and the new-wave/power-punk influenced track - Northshore. Nonetheless, Sara's musical talent is still clearly evident on Sainthood, with more probably would be the second single on the record - Alligator and a wonderful outro to Sainthood, the 1-2 punch of Sentimental Tune and Someday. This finale of the record shows glimpses of what Tegan and Sara would be like if they wrote together, yet this may dishearten hardcore fans, who want songs of the past. But, Tegan and Sara have taken the other path of the Y-intersection, into the future and as they reach 10 years writing and performing in the music industry and hitting their mid-30s soon, truly have shown the maturity to write an excellent album as a whole, while still writing about love, sex and relationships and still keeping in touch with fellow indie-pop stars, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

8/10