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CD review: The New Pornographers ‘Together’
The New Pornographers
‘Together’
(Matador)
Grade B+
New Pornographers lead visionary Carl Newman closes out “Moves,” the opening track off “Together,” by making a promise to the listener: “These things get louder.” That’s a guarantee that’s hard to imagine, coming as it does at the end of an explosive track loaded with the Pornographers’ 21st century Electric Light Orchestra style, all soaring strings and offbeat harmonies seemingly designed to out-bizarre the Dirty Projectors.
But he and the rest of the Canadian supergroup — including Neko “I’m kind of a big deal” Case and eccentric pop sorcerer Dan Bejar — make good on that promise. “Together” is a return to fist-pumping form after the less immediate, more cerebral pleasures of fourth album “Challengers,” from the charging rock of lead single “Your Hands (Together)” to the audacious trumpet-showcasing “A Bite Out of My Bed.” Case sounds as giddy and enthused as ever, joyful and charismatic over a chorus of whistles on “Crash Years.” Bejar chips in his catchiest numbers yet, especially on the gentle summertime amble of “If You Can’t See My Mirrors.” Standard New Pornographers nuggets sound stronger than ever when backed by the virtuosic strings of Tara Szczygielski and Ben Kalb. Closer “We End Up Together” unseats previous champion “Stacked Crooked” as the band’s best closing number, an epic culmination.
If there’s any criticism to be made, it’s that the album’s rich wall-of-sound production sometimes overwhelms the musicianship, as the already-expansive New Pornographers are layered on top of strings, the Dap-Kings Horns and a bevy of guest stars including Will Sheff and St. Vincent. But that’s not a mortal sin, and if anything “Together” is guilty of only occasionally being too much of a good thing, like a musical ice cream headache.
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