The Other Side of Make-Believe Vinyl

If fate didnrsquot quite ordain the circumstances for Interpolrsquos seventh album, it was at least fortunate that the band had happily concluded their lsquoMarauderrsquo cycle on stage in front of 30 thousandodd Peruvian fans. Rather than be sent scrambling like so many other musicians on tour or promoting new music, when lockdown clamped in March 2020, Interpol quickly got into a productive mood.Coming from a group whose early work was characterised by Polish knifewielders and incarcerated serial killers, you might expect Interpolrsquos pandemic record to be an emotional tar pit doubly so, given the presence of towering producerengineer duo Flood and Moulder on the boards. But lead vocalist, lyricist and guitarist Paul Banks felt the call to push in a lsquocounterbalancingrsquo direction, with paeans to mental resilience and the quiet power of going easy. ldquoThe nobility of the human spirit is to recover and rebound,rdquo he says. ldquoYeah, I could focus on how fucked everything is, but I feel now is the time when being hopeful is necessary, and a stillbelievable emotion within what makes Interpol Interpol.rdquo