Interpol - El Pintor (2014)

The first thing that comes to my mind when I hear ''Interpol'' is not the International Criminal Police Organization, it is the band that has greatly raised the bar for modern indie-rock and post-punk bands. Being their fifth studio album, El Pintor was released on September 8, 2014. The name of the album means ''the painter'' in Spanish and is also an anagram of Interpol. The atmosphere kept throughout the album is rather dark and gloomy, reminding of 'Antics'  and 'Turn On the Bright Lights', - the first and most acclaimed albums of the group - while still being able to bring drive and cheer up the listeners with tracks like 'All the Rage Back Home' and 'Everything is Wrong'.

The first song, and at the same time the first single - 'All the Rage Back Home' - begins slowly, immersing the listener into the lyrics, which tell us about a broken relationship, the very special way only Interpol can do:

'When she wept, I left come over my head
About, oh the feelings
And she wept, hold me again, I made no sound, oh repeating
And she swore love has never come so easily
And we went over again, my head about, oh the feeling'

After being put into a place of a man who is struggling with the thoughts about love and 'feelings', the pace fastens, drums and bass come into play and the music lets the listener feel the way a person ''Keeps falling'' deeper and deeper into the thoughts that are difficult for him, culminating into an emotional outburst expressed by the instruments that merge into a story setting with the vocals narrating it further. 

The second single - 'Everything is Wrong' - has got a very strong bass line that is playing throughout the whole song. Combined with the drums, it creates a great drive that is kept until the end. The high backing vocals add a melancholical, yet smooth vibe to what the leading voice is singing. The guitar with added reverb provides a fuller sound making the experience more melodical.

 Again, the overall impression of the song is morbid, especially amplified by the chorus that says that ''Everything is wrong, truly wrong...'', though not going too deep into sadness thanks to the energetic rhytm provided by the drummer. The message of the song says that the way we live in our world is truly wrong, nobody is actually satisfied. Closer to the end of the song, the guitar takes the most important role, leading the emotions of a person's dissatisfaction with the world and visualising it into sound.

The album ends with a slow, melancholic track called 'Twice as Hard', in which the instruments are whirled into one gust of emotions speaking through the melody. The main line ''Twice as Hard'' suggests the hardship through which the character is going. The melody is relaxing and easy to listen, though would not be recommended to somebody, who is not in the best mood, as it still remains melancholic.

Overall, though the album might be somehow depressing and pessimistic, it is surely worth listening to, especially if you are interested in uncommon ways of expression and powerful lyrics that this album surely has got plenty of. This album might be not just a piece of music that you would go through and forget soon, but something more, something that might catch your attention for a longer time and not let go.