Interpol have marked their return by sharing the cinematic video for new single ‘Toni’ and announcing details of their seventh album, ‘The Other Side of Make-Believe’.
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Having been teasing ‘Toni’ for some weeks, today the band release the first taster of their first new material since 2018’s acclaimed ‘Marauder’ and 2019 EP ‘A Fine Mess’, with a new single that explores both the NYC band’s more intimate approach to sound along with a pounding and danceable beat.
The single comes with the first of a two-part dance film directed by Van Alpert (who has worked with the likes of Post Malone and Machine Gun Kelly), with the second chapter to follow soon.
“It was a blast working with Van Alpert on the video for our song Toni,” said frontman Paul Banks. “We bonded over shared film inspiration as well as a passion for classic music videos by the likes of Glazer, Cunningham and Jonze. Van, in my opinion, is in the club with these legends; and it’s exciting to watch him build his own enduring body of work.”
Alpert, meanwhile, added: “I wrote a crazy idea that I felt was new for Interpol: a hyper-modern, cinematic dance film. A ‘Lover’s on the Run’ story, with a classic cliffhanger ending. Dream job working for my all-time favourite band! Paul Banks ties everything together and elevated the concept, because he’s naturally a great actor, artist, and collaborator.”
Described as being “imbued with pastoral longing and newfound grace”, ‘The Other Side of Make-Believe’ started out with the band writing and recording remotely due to COVID during 2020 – before meeting up to flesh out the new songs at a rented home in the Catskills, before completing the songs in North London with co-producers Flood (Smashing Pumpkins, New Order, U2, PJ Harvey, Flood, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, The Killers) and Alan Moulder (Nine Inch Nails, White Lies, Depeche Mode, My Bloody Valentine, Ride, The Cure, Yeah Yeah Yeahs).
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“Working alone was raw at first, but has opened up a vivid new chapter for us,” said guitarist Daniel Kessler in a press release, with Bank recalling how he took to writing while the global pandemic saw him living in Edinburgh for nearly nine months. “We usually write live, but for the first time I’m not shouting over a drumkit,” said Banks.
“Daniel and I have a strong enough chemistry that I could picture how my voice would complement the scratch demos he emailed over. Then I could turn the guys down on my laptop, locate these colourful melodies and generally get the message across in an understated fashion.”
He added: “It’s like Mickey Rourke in Barfly, singing to a patron at the end of the tabletop, and we never felt the need to flip that smoky intimacy into something big and loud when it came to rehearse and record. I got a real kick out of doing the opposite.”
Interpol release ‘The Other Side Of Make-Believe’ on July 15. Check out the full tracklist below.
1. ‘Toni’
2. ‘Fables’
3. ‘Into The Night’
4. ‘Mr Credit’
5. ‘Something Changed’
6. ‘Renegade Hearts’
7. ‘Passenger’
8. ‘Greenwich’
9. ‘Gran Hotel’
10. ‘Big Shot City’
11. ‘Go Easy (Palermo)’
This spring, the band will embark on their first tour in two years, with dates across the US, UK, and EU.
Last week, the Manhattan group announced a co-headline coast-to-coast North American tour with Spoon called ‘Lights, Camera, Factions’. Tickets will be available here.
Back in 2020, Banks also released his acclaimed debut album with Muzz – an indie supergroup also featuring Josh Kaufman (Bonny Light Horseman) and Matt Barrick (The Walkmen).