Interpol
Marauder

The story of Interpol is one of continuous attempts at rebirth, so far only partially successful or totally failed (in one case only, to be honest, that is the disastrous self-titled album from eight years ago).

The new and sixth studio album comes a full four years after the previous "El Pintor," a good record that, however, once again disappointed those who (rightly?) expected something exciting and fresh like the now-dated debut "Turn On The Bright Lights," an absolute masterpiece and iconic album of that post-punk revival so popular in the early 2000s.

With a mind free of all these mental masturbations, and taken individually as any new album from any American rock band eager to reestablish itself in the market and live, "Marauder" is a distinguished album, certainly the best from the trio since "Our Love To Admire" in 2007, a failed attempt to launch Banks and company into a stadium dimension not really within the reach of the talented former American prodigies.

Probably decisive was the move to return to relying on an external producer (last time being with "Our Love...") and entrusting the knobs to a fox like Dave Fridmann, already a craftsman of the sound for heavyweights like Flaming Lips and Mercury Rev. The choice of good Dave is anachronistic but decisive: to record the work in analog, thus highlighting the rawest and most immediate part of the American trio's sound. And it was already clear that the move was successful from the sensational lead single "The Rover," an incredibly fresh and inspired piece, a pounding rock fully supported by the drumming of Sam Fogarino, who ultimately delivers his best performance ever on an Interpol album.

Fogarino, who hammers like a blacksmith even on the opener "If You Really Love Nothing," accompanied by a nice video featuring Kirsten Stewart (also the clip for the aforementioned "The Rover" is highly recommended for fans of the Netflix series "Narcos," as it was directed by Gerardo Naranjo, one of the directors of the series); if at first, it almost seems like buying a Kings Of Leon album, as soon as Fogarino and Banks come in, it's immediately clear what the following notes will be made of.

Few are the nods to the more classic Interpol, those of the early days, to be clear, which are reduced to the second single "Number 10" and the excellent "Flight Or Fancy," in full "Turn On The Bright Lights" style. Otherwise, the range is broad, while maintaining a distinctly precise Interpol-esque imprint (incredible in this sense the work of Fridmann), see under "Complications," raw yet familiar at the same time; and even when the experimentation becomes more pronounced, as in the case of the fascinating "Stay In Touch," everything remains incredibly cohesive and coherent.

Banks has fun imagining a hard indie version of Bon Iver in "Party's Over," "Nysmaw" evokes "Antics"-like fascinations and "Mountain Child" highlights the enormous qualities of an underrated guitarist like Daniel Kessler.

A beautiful album, this "Marauder," the umpteenth piece of a band that refuses to go away and that, fortunately, will definitely stay.

Best track: The Rover