El Pintor
Recorded at Electric Lady Studios and Atomic Sound in New York City, the ten tracks on ‘El Pintor,’ - taut and epic in equal measure - find the band completely reinvigorated after a three year break from touring. All songs on ‘El Pintor’ were written and produced by Interpol, with Daniel Kessler playing guitar, Samuel Fogarino on drums, and Paul Banks on vocals, guitars, and taking over bass duties for the first time. The album also features Brandon Curtis (The Secret Machines) playing keyboard on nine songs, Roger Joseph Manning, Jr. (Beck) playing keyboard on “Tidal Wave,” and Rob Moose (Bon Iver) playing violin and viola on "Twice as Hard.” ‘El Pintor’ was mixed by Alan Moulder, and mastered by Greg Calbi.
On Interpol's first album in four years—and first without Carlos D—there’s nothing that touches the band’s creative peak, but it's still a step up from their 2010 self-titled record. El Pintor’s best songs could hang with Interpol’s strongest deep cuts.
Interpol put itself in an enviable predicament with its debut, 2002’s Turn On The Bright Lights. Loaded with a dark, sensual hybrid of indie rock and post-punk, the band exploded onto the music scene with a fully realized sound and aesthetic on its very first album. For each successive effort, the band edged ever so…
Album five brings the NYC band out of the shadows with contrast, colour and a weight that feels different.
If El Pintor settles one argument about Interpol, it is how little of an effect the departure of bassist Carlos D has had…
As the titular anagram of Interpol's name suggests, El Pintor refocuses and realigns the fundamentals of the band's music.
If opener and lead single All the Rage Back Home doesn’t hook from the off, fear not. Like much of this fifth album from the newly trim trio, bassist Carlos Dengler having now departed, it’s a grower. And for the devoted who prefer their Interpol in classic mould, it’s not all, um, doom and gloom – after the diversions of 2010’s Interpol, El Pintor finds more room for guitarist Daniel Kessler’s trademark nervy, switchback riffs.
Interpol's record trajectory has been a steady decline, from their impressive debut LP, 2002's Turn on the Bright Lights, to their lukewarmly-received self-titled record, released in 2010.
Death to Interpol. Death to all neo-baritone-core. Death to The National. Death to Editors. If you really wanted to take a leaf out of Joy Division's book, you all should've called it a day after two albums. It's 2014, for God's sake.
Album review: Interpol - El Pintor. A successful exercise in getting back to where they once belonged...
The fifth album from Interpol finds them still crafting dark, jagged yet populist songs, writes <strong>Paul Mardles</strong>
Interpol's new album 'El Pintor' reviewed by Northern Transmissions. The LP comes out 8th via Matador Records, the first single is "All The Rage back Home"
Back from a hiatus, Interpol returns to its sleek, monochrome post-punk sound, writes <strong>Dave Simpson</strong>