For the first time since 2007’s Our Love To Admire, Interpol have opened themselves up to the input of a producer. For two-week spells between December 2017 and April 2018, they travelled to upstate New York to work with Dave Fridmann – famed for his work with Mercury Rev, Flaming Lips, MGMT, Spoon, Mogwai, and countless more – to record Marauder.
In the run-up to writing and recording, drummer Sam Fogarino found himself immersed in soul drummers such as Al Jackson Jr (Otis Redding’s drummer) and ’80s funk producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. “How can I make shit swing?” was the question Sam repeatedly asked himself, and the answer is in the striding gallop of opener ‘If You Really Love Nothing’, the embellished skip ’n’ bounce of ‘Stay in Touch’ and the R&B swagger of closer ‘It Probably Matters’. Interpol have always been world-beaters at creating a feeling, but Marauder is where the feel is just as crucial.
Paul Banks may have stepped out of the shadows as bassist and singer, but he’s stepping into an even brighter light as a songwriter. On Interpol’s previous albums, he largely kept himself out of his own work, preferring to fill his lyrics with detached thoughts, characters, and observations, often phrased in abstract. But more than 20 years on since forming the band at NYU, the frontman is finally allowing himself to play a role in his own stories.
“This record is where I feel touching on real things that have happened to me are exciting and evocative to write about,” he explains. “I think in the past, I always felt autobiography was too small a thing for me to reference. I feel like now, I’m able to romanticize parts of my own life.”
Note: the LP is available on indies-only cream vinyl.
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