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Rating: It is not the ultimate mix, it is in mono and consists of bootleg recordings, but there it is: this is the new Interpol album.
Antics had a long period of gestation, experimented live and multiple times in the studio, highlighting that the artistic flair of the New York group did not end with just Turn On The Bright Lights and distances them from the well-known accusations of Joy Division plagiarism. The Dark obviously remains, being a peculiar trait of the band, but to these atmospheres are added nostalgia, regrets, anger, doubts, and contradictions. In the arrangement of the tracks, the heavy use of keyboard layers, a distinctly funky bass, and a more lead guitar compared to the previous work is immediately evident, with the drums, as usual, continuously varying to create compelling rhythms.
Next Exit opens the album with a reverberating organ, then the song engages in the initial tranquility, paving the way for Evil, a traditional post-punk burst enhanced by an excellent chorus. Following is Narc, the best made-in-Interpol track ever written: guitar riffs, agile bass, a chorus where the song opens up, a Police-style ending. Take You On A Cruise is the first ballad of the album, poignant and moving like few others, strongly contrasting with the first single released, Slow Hands, a dance rock track that will drive indie clubs crazy: a four-on-the-floor beat and an easy chorus that gets immediately catchy. It's time for Not Even Jail, dragging and sweet, magnificent with its simple but engaging guitar arpeggio. Public Pervert, a hallucinatory song with violent changes in melody and atmospheres, takes us to the final triptych composed of C'mere, Length Of Love, and A Time To Be So Small. All old tracks, the latter even deriving from an EP preceding Turn On The Bright Lights, all well-known by fans who were able to follow Interpol in the last phase of their tour. C'mere is one of the most carefree tracks but hides a love disappointment, while Length Of Love could be one of the most classic post-punk songs inspired by Joy Division with its obsessive guitar interlude and very dark baritone singing. The album closes with A Time To Be So Small, the last ballad, nostalgic and emotional.
Antics is a very ambitious, complicated and difficult work to grasp in a few listens, these are precisely the peculiarities that make it a profoundly different album from the previous one. Interpol, while remaining faithful to their musical origins and their characteristics, have reinvented themselves by conceiving an excellent album, much more innovative than the previous one and profoundly different in content.
The great comeback we were all waiting for.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
01 Next Exit (03:20)
We ain't going to the town
We're going to the city
We're gonna trek this shit around
And make this place a heart to be a part of
We ain't going to the town
We're going to the city
We're gonna trek this shit around
And make this place a heart to be a part of
Again
We're going
We're going
We're going
And we're gone
We're going
We're going
We're going
And we're gone
So baby make it with me
In preperation for me tonight
We've got so much to leave
But that's not what makes this right
We've been building up steam
Ignited by this fight
So, do this thing with me instead of
Tying on a tight one tonight
We're going
We're going
We're going
And we're gone
We ain't going to the town
We're going to the city
We're gonna trek this shit around
And make this place a heart to be a part of
Again
02 Evil (03:35)
Rosemary, Heaven restores you in life
You're coming with me
Through the aging, the fearing, the strife
It's the smiling on the package
It's the faces in the sand
It's the thought that moves you upwards
Embracing me with two hands
Right will take you places
Yeah maybe to the beach
When your friends they do come crying
Tell them now your pleasure's set upon slow release
Hey wait
Great smile
Sensitive to fate, not denial
But hey, who's on trial?
It took a lifespan with no cellmate
The long way back
Sandy, why can't we look the other way?
We speaks about travel
Yeah we think about the land
We smart like all peoples
Feeling real tan
I could take you places
But you need a new man?
Wipe the pollen from the faces
Make revision to a dream while you wait in the van
Hey wait
Great smile
Sensitive to fate, not denial
But hey, who's on trial?
It took a lifespan with no cellmate
The long way back
Sandy, why can't we look the other way?
You're weightless, you are exotic
You need something for which to care
Sandy, why can't we look the other way?
Leave some shards under the belly
Lay some grease inside my hand
It's a sentimental jury
And the makings of a good plan
You've come to love me lightly
Yeah you come to hold me tight
Is this motion everlasting
Or do shudders pass in the night?
Rosemary, Heaven restores you in life
I spent a lifespan with no cellmate
The long way back
Sandy, why can't we look the other way?
You're weightless, semi-erotic
You need someone to take you there
Sandy, why can't we look the other way?
Why can't we just play the other game?
Why can't we just look the other way?
03 NARC (04:08)
Touch your thighs, I'm the lonely one
Remember that last sweat 'cause that was the right one
Oh, all your mysteries are moving in the sun
And show some love and respect
Wanna get some love and respect
Baby you can see that the gazing eye won't lie
Don't give up your lover tonight
'Cause it's just you, me and this wire, alright
Let's tend to the engine tonight
She found a lonely sound
She keeps on waiting for time out there
Oh love, can you love me babe
Love, is this loving babe
Is time turning around
Feast your eyes, I'm the only one
Control me, console me
'Cause that's just how it should be done
Oh, all your history's like fire from a busted gun
I show some love and respect
Don't wanna get a life of regret
But baby you can see that the gazing eye won't lie
Don't give up your lover tonight
She found a lonely sound
She keeps on waiting for time out there
Oh love, can you love me babe
Love, is this loving babe
Is time turning around
He slips into the bedroom, baby
You know me, this is all right
Old names, we'll make soon
Will sustain us through the night
Inside my bedroom baby
Touch me, oh tonight
Poses we'll make soon
Will reveal our sense of right
You should be in my space
You should be in my life
You should be in my space
You should be in my life
You could be in my space
04 Take You on a Cruise (04:54)
I'm timeless like a broken watch
I make money like Fred Astaire
I see that you've come to resist me, I'm a pitbull in time
Your pretense is not what restricts me
It's the circles inside
The anatomy of kisses and a teacher who tries
Who knows how we'll disappear?
Would you like to be my missus and in future with child?
You know we can't get back from here
But we can get away
Baby don't you try to find me
Baby don't you try to fight
Baby don't you try to find me
Baby it will be alright
Along the way tears drown in the wake of delight
There's nothing like this built today
You'll never see a finer ship in your life
We sail today, tears drown in the wake of delight
There's nothing like this built today
You'll never see a finer ship or receive a better tip in your life
I am the scavenger between the sheets of union
Lately I can't tell for sure whether machines turn anyone
I am the scavenger between the sheets of union
Lately I can't tell for sure whether machines turn anyone
Lady don't you try to find me
Lady there is no need to fight
Lady don't you try to find me
Lady it will be alright
We sail today, tears will drown in your wake of delight
There's nothing like this built today
You'll never see a finer ship in your life
Along the way the sea will crowd us with lovers at night
There's nothing like this built today
You'll never see a finer ship or receive a better tip in your life
I see that you've come to resist me, I'm a pit bull in time
White Goddess, Red Goddess, Black Temptress of the sea you treat me right
Black Goddess, Red Goddess, White Temptress of the sea you treat me right
Oh my love, we're sailing to Norway
Oh my love, we're sailing tonight
Oh my love, we're sailing to Norway
Oh my love, we're leaving tonight
05 Slow Hands (03:04)
Nobody searches
And nobody cares somehow
When the loving that you've wasted
Comes raining from a hapless cloud
Then I might stop and look upon your face
Disappear in the sweet sweet gaze
See the living that surrounds me
Dissipate in a violent blaze
Can't you see what you've done to my heart and soul?
This is a wasteland now
We spies we slow hands
You put the weights around your self
We spies oh yeah we slow hands
You put the weights all around your self now
I submit my incentive is romance
I watched the pole dance of the stars
We rejoice because the hurting is so painless
From the distance of passing cars
But I am married to your charms & grace
I just feel crazy like the good old days
You make me want to pick up a guitar
And celebrate the myriad ways that I love you
Can't you see what you've done to my heart and soul?
This is a wasteland now
We spies yeah we slow hands
You put the weights around your self
We spies oh yeah we slow hands
Killer for hire you know not yourself
We spies we slow hands
You put the weights around your self
We spies oh yeah we slow hands
We retire like nobody else
We spies intimate slow hands
Killer for hire you know not yourself
We spies intimate slow hands
You let the face slap around the self
06 Not Even Jail (05:46)
I'll lay down my glasses,
I'll lay down in houses,
If things come alive
I'll subtract pain by ounces
Yeah, I will start painting houses
If things come alive
I promise to commit no acts of violence
Be it physical or otherwise
If things come alive
I'll say it now
I'll say it now
I'll say it now
Oh, I'll say it now
'Cuz I want it now
When personality is scar tissue
It travels south with disuse
I'm subtle like a lion's cage
Such a cautious display
Remember take hold of your time here
Give some meanings to the means
To your end
Not even jail
We marshal in new days of longing
We tremble like anyone's children
And wink towards the fire
I'm erring on this side of caution
Betraying no other symptom
But girl you shake it right
I will bounce you on the lap of silence
We will freeload to the beats of science
And girl you shake it right
I'll say it now
Oh, but hold it still, darling, your hair's so pretty
Can't you feel the warmth of my sincerity?
You make motion when you cry
You're making people's lives feel less private
And don't take time away
You make motion when you cry
We all hold hands
Can we all hold hands
When we make new plans
I pretend like no one else to try control myself
I'm subtle like a lion's cage
Such a cautious display
Remember take hold of your time here
Give some meanings to the means
To your end
Not even jail
07 Public Pervert (04:40)
If time is my vessel, then learning to love might be my way back to sea
The flying, the metal, the turning above - these are just ways to be seen
We all get paid
Some get faith before they die
Then through stars we will navigate
Through the holes in your eyes
How many days will it take to land?
How many ways to reach abandon?
Swoon, baby, starry nights
May our bodies remain
You move with me, I'll treat you right, baby
May our bodies remain
There is love to be made
So, just stay here for this while
Perhaps heartstrings resuscitate
The fading sounds of your life
How many days will it take to land?
How many ways to reach abandon?
(Oh abandon)
Swoon, baby, starry nights
May our bodies remain
As deep we move I'll feed you light, baby
May our bodies remain
Oh yeah, in history I'll treat you right, baby
I'm honest that way, hey
Swoon, baby, starry nights
May our bodies remain
09 Length of Love (04:06)
This could be destiny, oh sweetheart
I've had no sense of time since we started
I've got friends in need, oh sweetheart
I'd grown lengths and lengths and lengths of love since we started this thing out
Combat salacious removal
Combat salacious removal
There is a bitter breed, oh sweetheart
They will be watching you sometimes
With their bitter hearts
But we are through with these
Oh we're shifting the heartache
We want strong summer love, the most robust of blood
Just to stay awake
Combat salacious removal
Combat salacious removal
Combat salacious removal
10 A Time to Be So Small (04:49)
We saw you from the urchin's side, from under the boat
We saw you making knots, saw you get the rope
The boy appearing on the deck and making it lurch
And bubble of your interests ready to burst
He whistles and he runs
We saw you in distraction; a sleeping slow despair
Rehearsing interaction, he wasn't even there
A creature is a creature though you wish you were the wind
The boat will not stop moving if you tie him up until the end
He whistles and he runs so hold him fast
Breathe the burn, you want to let it last
He might succumb to what you haven't seen
He has a keen eye for what you used to be
When the cadaverous mob saves its doors for the dead men
You cannot leave
When the cadaverous mob saves its doors for the dead men
You cannot leave
When the cadaverous mob saves its doors for the dead men
You cannot leave
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Other reviews
By humax4
"This album is everything 'Turn On The Bright Lights' would have been if we had the experience we have today."
"I would gladly take that journey in the underpass again because it made me dream and continues to do so every time I press the Play button on my player."
