When I spoke to Tegan Quin earlier this year about her and her sister Sara’s new album, she promised it’d be more radio-friendly. Judging from “Closer,” the first single from the as-yet-untitled set, she wasn’t joking.
The synth-happy, sex-ready track has a blues structure at times, and without all the tears. Tegan and Sara repeat their sweet refrains twice each, concluding they’d want their lover-to-be “underneath me.” “Let’s make things physical / I won’t treat you like you’re typical,” they bop over lasers, harmonies and a BPM that winds you up for… whatever.
Aguilera, Usher, Enrique and the rest may outline specifically what they want their bedroom playtime to be in the most explicit terms possible; here, the Quins keep their requests and desires simple, melodically innocent and flirtatious. And no acoustic guitars here.
The songwriters worked with three distinctly different pop and rock producers on this album, with “Closer” helmed by Greg Kurstin. However, it’s sonically more on par with engineer Justin Meldal-Johnson’s work with M83: a lot of air and drive. (And “Drive.”)
The new album will be out in January 2013. The duo will be on tour with their band throughout this fall, including stops on a opening stint for The Killers and the Black Keys and helping fill out Austin City Limits.
Here are Tegan and Sara’s tour dates:
Headlining Dates:
Sep 23 – Vogue Theatre – Vancouver, BC
Sep 24 – Neptune – Seattle, WA
Sep 25 – Knitting Factory – Boise, ID
Sep 28 – Cuthbert Amphitheatre – Eugene, OR
Sep 29 – Harmony By The Bay Festival – Mountain View, CA
w/The Black Keys:
Oct 1 – Save Mart Center – Fresno, CA
Oct 2 – Santa Barbara Bowl – Santa Barbara , CA
Oct 4 – Valley View Casino – San Diego, CA
Oct 5 – Staples Center – Los Angeles , CA
Oct 6 – Staples Center – Los Angeles , CA
Oct 8 – Honda Center – Anaheim , CA
Oct 9 – US Air Arena – Phoenix , AZ
Oct 10 – Pan American Center – Las Cruces , NM
Headlining:
Oct 11 – Annette Strauss Square @ AT&T Performing Arts Center – Dallas, TX
Festivals:
Oct 12 – Austin City Limits Music Festival – Austin, TX
Oct 14 – Corona Capital Festival – Mexico City, Mexico
UK Dates w/The Killers:
Oct 26 – Scottish Exhibition Centre – Glasgow, Lanarkshire
Oct 27 – Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre – Aberdeen, Scotland
Oct 31 – The LG Arena @ The NEC – Birmingham
Nov 1 – The LG Arena @ The NEC – Birmingham
Nov 3 – Capital FM Arena – Nottingham
Nov 4 – Newcastle Metro Arena – Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle
Nov 5 – Cardiff Motorpoint Arena – Cardiff
Nov 8 – Motorpoint Arena – Sheffield, South Yorkshire
Nov 9 – Echo Arena – Liverpool, Merseyside
Nov 13 – Manchester Arena – Manchester
Nov 14 – Manchester Arena – Manchester
Nov 16 – O2 Arena – London
Nov 17 – O2 Arena – London
w/The Killers:
Nov 29 – 1st Bank Center – Broomfield, CO
Nov 30 – UCCU Center – Orem, UT
Dec 3 – Pacific Coliseum – Vancouver, BC
Dec 13 – Susquehanna Bank Center – Camden, NJ
Dec 14 – Madison Square Garden – New York, NY
Dec 15 – Air Canada Centre – Toronto, ON
Dec 17 – Agganis Arena – Boston, MA
Dec 18 – Patriot Center – Fairfax, VA
Dec 20 – EMU Convocation Center – Ypsilanti, MI
Dec 21 – UIC Pavilion – Chicago, IL