Our globally linked online world paradoxically connects us like never before while also making people feel more isolated and lonely than ever before. And that was never more true than during the pandemic lockdowns of 2020. While some people turned to Zoom hangouts and baking bread in an attempt to stay sane, The New Pornographers frontman A.C. Newman penned ten new songs examining the harmful effects of that isolation and online culture.
The result is Continue as a Guest, the ninth studio album from the Canadian indie rock supergroup. Throughout the album, Newman and company weave its signature blend of melodic power pop, intricate vocal harmonies, and witty lyricism with infectious hooks.
Once again, Dan Bejar (Destroyer) is not on the album, though he did co-write “Really Really Light” with Newman. That track opens the album with an upbeat, fuzzy groove, the guitars sounding like “radio static” while seemingly random electronic noises appear in the background. “I am blurry on this here particular scene that I’m trying to paint, if you’d sit still for me,” Newman and company sing. For a disorienting effect, the song alternates between the male/female harmonies of Newman with Neko Case and Kathryn Calder and the all-male harmonies of Newman with drummer Joe Sieders.
“Pontius Pilate’s Home Movies” is built around a disjointed, stream-of-consciousness narrative about toxic online discourse and a catchy Zach Djanikian bassline. “Want to start again, need to think up an alias,” Newman sings. He later remarks that a painting is “beautiful, I guess, but I only like art when it’s changing the subject.”
In “Last and Beautiful,” Newman sings of a conflicting desire to leave a crumbling society behind and a fear of being alone. “I was going to seek the dark ends of the earth, a last beautiful stand,” he sings. The only problem? “I don’t wanna go by myself; come with me.”
That desire to live as an outsider apart from the rest of the world is repeated in the excellent title track. Saxophone flourishes from Djanikian interrupt a guitar groove that seems to continuously build momentum. “Find a place out on the plains with some space to fall apart,” Newman sings, backed by Case and Calder. “With a long fade out, continue as a guest.”
Though swirling keyboards and electronic bloops are frequently heard in the dense musical textures of Continue as a Guest, despite the highly digital themes, the sound is still highly analog. Sometimes there’s a country influence, as with the twangy “Bottle Episodes,” and sometimes there’s a bit of electronica, as with the pulsing “Angelcover,” but it’s mainly the electric and acoustic guitars that drive the propulsive pop rock. Even without Bejar, there are enough pop hooks and interesting melodies to live up to The New Pornographers’ high standard.
