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Aug 16, 2012 Web Exclusive By John Norris

Earlier this year we spoke to Tegan and Sara about their forthcoming seventh album. (Read that article here.) At the time they had written 36 songs and had just started recording, with plans to work with a multitude of producers. A theme for the album was already coming into place. “Sara and I are both in stable relationships, we’re both at a very stable part of our career,” said Tegan at the time. “We have achieved more than we ever thought we would. In a weird way we’re quite content right now, so I’d say the theme of this record is really different than our last records; it’s not heartbreak, but one of much more empowerment and also a lot of reflection.”

We recently spoke to Tegan again for a non-Tegan and Sara centric article in our next print issue and she gave an update on the as-yet-untitled album, which is due out in early 2013. Below are the sections of that interview that deal with the next album, and be sure to check out both the print and digital versions of our forthcoming Summer Issue of Under the Radar for much more from our interviews with both Tegan and Sara Quin.

John Norris (Under the Radar): Tegan, it has been a very long time! A swelteringly hot Chicago at Lollapalooza 2005, I believe? It was super hot all that weekend.

Tegan Quin: Yes, it was absolutely brutal, and Sara couldn’t finish the show, I had to complete it without her. When she came off stage she basically just laid down on the grass and some Lollapalooza employee came over with a bucket of ice and just poured it on top of her. And she had to be taken back to the hotel room.

Oh my God.

Yes, but that’s OK because that established that I was the stronger one and she was the weaker one. [Laughs.]

[Laughs.] Well there you go. Are you in L.A. right now?

I’m actually up in Vancouver visiting my family.

So you live in both places?

I coexist. I have an apartment there [L.A.] and I live in Vancouver as well, since my girlfriend lives there. So we kind of have to have two lives, because she needs to work there. So I have grown accustomed to, and have discovered the things I like about L.A. and really just focus my time and energy on that, and pretty much never go west, stay off the west side.

So is the new record done? I think I saw that the last episode of your YouTube series Carpool Confessional, which you shot while making the record, was back in May, right?

Yeah, we have one song left to mix and then we master at the end of the month. So we are very close, although I am pretty sure we will be touring with a couple of songs in the fall, the record itself won’t come out until January.

I know you’ve got dates with The Black Keys in, October? You’ll be doing some of the new stuff?

Yeah, it should be good. I know I’ve been saying this, and it could just be self-defense so we’re not setting ourselves up for disappointment, but I do really feel like this is the best record we’ve made. And it’s really good. But I also think it will polarize people. I think some people will think that it’s just too far in one direction. But I think the songs are all really strong, and the producers we used are so amazing and it’s definitely a kick in the face. I think it’s gonna be good.

In one of the Carpool episodes, one of you guys alluded to that difference in the sound of this record. One of you said sort of, “Well we’ll see what people think. Hopefully they’ll like it.”

And I truly believe that people will. It’s definitely in the vein of what we’ve been working out, over our records. In a strange way it’s more the direction we were going in a few of our earlier records, like So Jealous, where it was more keyboard and pop and lots of melodies and tons of vocals. So I think a true Tegan and Sara fan will absolutely still hear the essence of Tegan and Sara. But it’s just a little more slick and it’s definitely not as much of a rock band record, that’s for sure. There’s not a lot of big trashy guitars or anything. But I’m excited, God, we’ve been doing it for so long, we’re so old. I cannot make the same record twice anymore. I just feel like, how do you tour for two years, doing what you’ve already done? It’s got to be interesting, and different.

www.teganandsara.com