[rating
Though in some ways The New Pornographers’ seventh album is an album of transition, it is also a return to form and a continuation of where the Canadian indie pop band left off. Whiteout Conditions is the first album with new drummer Joe Seiders, who replaced longtime drummer Kurt Dahle in 2014, and the first album without singer-songwriter Dan Bejar, who has been responsible for some of the band’s most innovative songs. At the same time, Whiteout Conditions continues the power pop sound of 2014’s Brill Bruisers, which is a return to the band’s earliest form after a couple softer, slower releases.
Whiteout Conditions is lacking some of the eclecticism of their more experimental albums, especially 2010’s phenomenal Together, but has more than an album’s worth of hooks and attention-grabbing melodies. Bejar’s absence means more harmonized vocals and fewer songs with a true lead singer. The album also brings more new wave-style synth into the mix, which helps flesh out the collection of eleven mostly upbeat songs.
Lead single “High Ticket Attraction” is one of the album’s biggest earwigs, with A.C. Newman and Kathryn Calder intertwining rapid-fire vocals over palm-muted guitar and flowing synthesizers. “High on the spirit, hopped up and mystic; after the flame baptism you’re fearless,” Newman and Calder sing, Calder alternating between repeating Newman’s lines, singing solo, and harmonizing with Newman, adding to the track’s frenetic feel.
Songs like the title track, with its swirling synthesizers and rapid, reverb-tinged drumbeats, sound like power pop straight out of the 80s. “Forget the mission; just get out alive,” Calder and Neko Case sing in the chorus, their ambivalence, and self-interest serving as counterpoint to Newman’s cultural criticisms. “You’re taking tours of a treacherous strip of the badlands. You have your demands. Maybe you riot for nothing; it’s just a bad hand,” Newman sings in response.
“Second Sleep” carries a lot of nervous energy, from the marching rhythm to the bubbling synth lines that pop up from place to place, always sounding on the cusp of boiling over. “This is the World of the Theater” showcases one of The New Pornographer’s best traits, their unique ability to combine several unique hooks into a song without making it sound off-balanced. “Is it too late to live in your heart; too late to burn all your civilian clothes?” Case sings over dense layers of foggy pop.
Whether the absence of Bejar is to blame or not, the one noticeable flaw in Whiteout Conditions is a lack of experimentalism. It mixes a variety of pop tones and vocalists, but because each song is so tight and focused, there is little room for any of the talented artists to stand out, or for the songs to take time to breathe and go in unexpected directions. Pop music doesn’t get much catchier or enjoyable than this, aside from on the New Pornographers’ past superior albums.
