“Our previous records had lots of keyboard elements,” Sara Quin says. “The only difference is that on those albums, they were present in the small details, whereas this time, we really wanted to focus more openly on the idea of pop music.”
The songs on Heartthrob tap into a particularly teenage pop sensibility – it’s not that hard to imagine the pair singing a song like Goodbye, Goodbye into hairbrushes in front of a big bedroom mirror. Classic Madonna and Cyndi Lauper are obvious touchstones, but the Quin sisters are just as inspired by the pop music of today. “When I was in my 20s, bands like Arcade Fire and Wolf Parade and Peaches inspired me,” Sara says. “Now I’m in my thirties, I’m finding that pop music inspires and provokes me. I hear things like Katy Perry, Alicia Keys, Britney Spears, Beyoncé, even Justin Bieber, and I think, ‘I’m going to go write something like that’. I mean, I’m not saying I want to write a Justin Bieber song, but I want to capture that kind of pop experience through my own lens.”
One of the biggest challenges of making Heartthrob was opening up to the possibility of collaboration. Producer Greg Kurstin, who has worked with everyone from Pink and Kelly Clarkson to indie pop star Sia helped shape the sound and direction of the album, and the pair were greatly inspired by his studio skills.
“Greg can make records for anybody and with anybody,” says Sara. “He’s amazing. When you’re working with someone like that, you feel like you need to step things up, to be accomplished at a certain level. Writing hooks and melodies with someone like Greg is not unlike training with an Olympic coach. It puts you on a different level.”
The biggest lesson that the twins took away from those sessions was that sometimes, it’s okay to open up and share – in life and in music. “I’m an incredibly snobby and stubborn person,” Sara laughs. “My past songwriting experiences have mostly involved telling people ‘No’. I will say that, over the past couple of years, starting to collaborate with other producers and artists, I’ve learned how to say, ‘Yes, I will consider that’, or ‘Yes, I will write two or three more choruses because you don’t think my amazing first chorus was the best one.’ You start to realise that you can do better, and you can always push yourself. You can always go back to your original idea, but sometimes you realise it wasn’t the best.”
Kurstin’s key trait, according to Sara, is inquisitiveness. “He’ll ask, ‘Is there something better?’ or ‘Can we move this part here to give it more impact?’” she says. “I’d never worked like that before, and all of those things have led me to the realisation that, as a songwriter, it’s important to accept change and constructive criticism. Tegan and I were never able to take criticism. Not positive criticism, not ever or at all, at any point in our lives. To get to a point where we’re able to take criticism and thrive, and say, ‘Let’s try something better’ or ‘You’re wrong but it’s up to me to prove you wrong’ – that’s incredible. We’ve never experienced that kind of motivation before, and it’s taking us to a better place as songwriters.”
Heartthrob’s poppier new songs have made for a more energetic live show. “We’ve been touring the new album for about a month and a half, integrating the new songs into the set,” Sara says. As an established band, playing new songs for people is tricky – you’re always aware that it’s not exactly what they want to hear, but you still want to blow their minds, and make them want to go listen to the new record. At this point in their careers, Tegan and Sara are well aware of how to approach this challenge.
“It’s ten new songs and about 15 old ones. It depends on what the audience wants – it’s a tug-of-war between playing the songs we know they want to hear, and spoon-feeding them the things we want them to hear and to like.”
The Quin sisters have been making music together for more than half their lives, and I ask Sara if she sees this collaboration continuing well into the future. She laughs at the thought. “It changes all the time for me,” she says. “My creative relationship with Tegan will stand as long as we’re both alive, and I look forward to that. I also think that there’s a natural timeline and life cycle for bands, and I don’t want to be around too long. I’m happy as long as we’re saying something new, adding something different to the Tegan and Sara catalogue. As long as I feel excited and creatively challenged, I’m going to keep doing this.”
BY ALASDAIR DUNCAN
