(Merge Records, digital, vinyl)
The most expert, effective songwriters seem to follow their instincts on what becomes a lifelong journey to realizing and executing their vision. For more than two decades, Carl Newman has had his work cut out for him as he spearheads a team of noteworthy artists who are all accomplished songwriters or instrumentalists with successful careers of their own.
As the founder and leader of the New Pornographers, Newman may find that trusting his gut is sometimes easier said than done. He’s had to navigate conflicting schedules and commingle unique personalities to orchestrate the nine studio albums released by this large conglomerate and its varied cast of characters.
With Continue as a Guest, the band’s latest release — and the first on the prestigious Merge Records label — Newman has reinvigorated and essentially reimagined the New Pornographers with his remarkable power-pop autograph, placing this album alongside the group’s most lasting. In doing so, Newman reminds us that his vision alone gives this high-profile group of colleagues every reason to continue making records and touring with him, for all the opportunities that pull them in different directions.
Newman penned and produced the album in and around Woodstock, N.Y., where he now lives, and it was recorded in various spots nearby. Its 10 tracks are an abstract, imaginative look at the current spirit of our day and our daily lives — so much of which are spent online.
This time around, the ensemble features a smaller portion of the band’s foundational musicians — who, like Newman, are Canadian or have lived there and lent their know-how to the project over the years. A few new contributors are credited, as well.
As devotees of the band most likely hoped, Neko Case graces Continue as a Guest. The celebrated Vermont-based singer-songwriter’s gripping voice has granted elegance and allure to the harmonies on previous New Pornographers recordings, bursting at the front of some of the most beloved songs in their catalog.
Contrasting Case’s performance with her own tender expression, multi-instrumentalist Kathryn Calder again fills a vital role in the group’s sound. She’s played keyboard since 2005, added some guitar duties a few years later and has been the lead vocalist on numerous tracks.
Bassist John Collins joins Newman and Case as the only other remaining full-time original member of the band. Also returning is drummer Joe Seiders, who came on board in 2014, and guitarist Todd Fancey, who joined in 2003.
Though this album seems to confirm the departure of longtime vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Dan Bejar, the front man of Destroyer — another group on the popping Merge Records roster — is credited as a writer on the album’s opening track. “Really Really Light” immediately crashes with a formidable sonic impetus, harking back to classic New Pornographers’ albums such as their 2000 debut Mass Romantic and 2005’s Twin Cinema.
Continue as a Guest opens with colliding instrumentation that morphs into an unconventional, hooking melody — a trademark of the New Pornographers. Even as these songs arrest the listener for a serious examination of loneliness and falling short of goals in this strange, potentially defining period of human existence, they’re decorated with delightful harmonies.
The album hit shelves and streaming services at what is most certainly also a pivotal time for the New Pornographers. It’s the first not to feature synthesizer player Blaine Thurier, although the longtime videographer directed a recent project commemorating the 20th anniversary of the album Electric Version.
And it is the first New Pornographers album with an outsider in a featured role. Soprano/tenor saxophonist Zach Djanikian’s presence adds mystique early in “Pontius Pilate’s Home Movies,” a provocative contemplation in which Newman wields lyrical wisdom and exhibits his range as a vocalist alongside the talented Case and Calder.
Overseeing these significant changes, Newman is at his most determined and unfettered. As he said in a recent NPR interview, on Continue as a Guest, he continues to find himself as a songwriter and is more dedicated than ever to showcasing his own singing abilities.
After “Cat and Mouse With the Light” spotlights Case to shining, fulfilling effect, “Last and Beautiful” responds with pounding, entrancing pop projections augmented by spotless conjoined harmonies, with Seiders helping, as well.
Who does what and how much on any given New Pornographers recording has been a point of contention for critics, who make high demands of this collective. Here, Newman brings out the best in his bandmates while honing his own craft.
On the deeply reflective title track, Newman delivers an astute take on what he sees as a disjointed, impersonal climate, epitomized by a checkout option that the internet shopping experience has made all too familiar.
The album chugs along in renewed but familiar New Pornographers fashion, with several additional rewards. “Angelcover” is an intrepid, tuneful offering that shows a confident, ambitious band finding its next step. The ethereal “Firework in the Falling Snow” features contributions from Sadie Dupuis, who heads indie rock squad Speedy Ortiz. She wrote some of the song’s lyrics but doesn’t appear on the track.
Continue as a Guest concludes with its most damning condemnation of the current state of affairs in “Wish Automatic Suite.” This adventurous composition unifies the distinct and convincing voices of the group in its lyrics — “There are way too many eyes on the prize” — before it bends with a prophetic, impossible invitation that repeats, drifts and haunts: “Meet me in the mirror maze, tell me when you find the floor / tell me when you find your way out.”
Rejuvenating the sounds of an established band with an uncommon makeup and lofty expectations, Newman demonstrates with this batch of songs that he’s an evolving, inquisitive songwriter with the wherewithal to artfully extend the life of a project that many thought might be short-lived.
Continue as a Guest is available on all major streaming services. The New Pornographers perform on Saturday, May 13, at the Higher Ground Ballroom in South Burlington.
This article appears in May 10-16, 2023.
Got something to say?
Send a letter to the editor and we'll publish your feedback in print!
