A woman is trapped on a cruise ship. A preacher decides to go down with his town. A man at the florist finds himself lost in the meaning of the arrangement. These and other people at personal and societal extremes are the subjects of ten timely, timeless short stories collected as meticulously crafted pop songs by The New Pornographers on their forthcoming album, 'The Former Site Of'.

The album, like 'Continue as a Guest', finds The New Pornographers—bandleader A.C. Newman, Neko Case, Kathryn Calder, John Collins, and Todd Fancey—expanding their already rich catalog in surprising fashion. Joined by legendary session drummer Charley Drayton (Divinyls, Keith Richards, Fiona Apple), the space contained in a New Pornographers song has never been this clearly articulated or generously textured, giving a distinct pulse to the characters whose lives spill out in Newman’s tender, evocative lyrics.

'The Former Site Of' adds new depth to the sound Newman shook loose through building and recording in a home studio, fine-tuning the band’s creative process far beyond the lockdown-era necessities of remote collaboration. “Having time in my studio really opened things up,” he explains. “I can get the skeleton of a song together first—just a couple of elements, the key feeling, really as little as possible—before bringing it to the band and running from there.”

Two albums into this shift, The New Pornographers are creating universes of intricately textured sound and narrative detail, every layer keyed to reveal an unexpected new facet. As on 'Continue as a Guest', one of the more readily apparent layers is the way a song forms itself around a featured instrument. On 'The Former Site Of', it’s a mandolin which, in Carl Newman’s hands, lends lead single 'Votive' its sense of acceleration as it builds from the atmospheric sweep of its synth and keyboard opening to a classic, wide-open jam.

Far from being the expected next chapter from The New Pornographers, 'The Former Site Of' is an argument against expectation by a band that continues to evolve rather than rest on their laurels. Even in its darkest or most self-deprecating moments, there is an effervescence to the music here that is irresistible, an affirmation that the struggle of its characters and the listener, like a photograph of a distant planet, is worth it.

TRACK LISTING

1. Great Princess Story
2. Pure Sticker Shock
3. Ballad Of The Last Payphone
4. Spooky Action
5. Wish You Could See Me I’m Killing It
6. Votive
7. The Wine Remembers The Water
8. Calligraphy
9. Bonus Mai Tais
10. The Former Site Of

Matador Records will celebrate the 20th anniversary of The New Pornographers’ second full-length, Electric Version – first released May 6, 2003 – with a limited-edition opaque blue vinyl reissue.

As for the music: no sophomore slumping to be found here. Back then we wrote, “With impossibly huge hooks and an innate understanding of every pop trick in the book, this follow-up to 2000’s breakthrough Mass Romantic is the most exciting pop record we’ve heard in a long while.” For once, tastemakers of the day shared our enthusiasm. “The New Pornographers mix the pop purism of the Beach Boys, the power charge of Cheap Trick and the gentle psychedelia of Syd Barrett,” wrote the New York Times, who labeled Electric Version “Some of the best pop of the year.”

TRACK LISTING

1. The Electric Version
2. From Blown Speakers
3. The Laws Have Changed
4. The End Of Medicine
5. Loose Translation
6. Chump Change
7. All For Swinging You Around
8. The New Face Of Zero And One
9. Testament To Youth In Verse
10. It's Only Divine Right
11. Ballad Of A Comeback Kid
12. July Jones
13. Miss Teen Wordpower

Over the past 20 years, The New Pornographers have proven themselves one of the most excellent bands in indie rock. The group’s ninth album and first for Merge establishes them alongside modern luminaries like Yo La Tengo and Superchunk when it comes to their ability to evolve while still retaining what made them so special in the first place. A dazzling and intriguing collection of songs, Continue as a Guest finds bandleader A.C. Newman and his compatriots Neko Case, Kathryn Calder, John Collins, Todd Fancey, and Joe Seiders exploring fresh territory and shattering the barriers of their collective comfort zone.

Newman began work on Continue as a Guest after the band had finished touring behind 2019’s In the Morse Code of Brake Lights. Themes of isolation and collapse bleed into this album, as Newman tackles the ambivalence of day-to-day life during the COVID-19 pandemic. But Newman says that Continue as a Guest’s title track also addresses the concerns that come with being in a band for so long. “The idea of continuing as a guest felt apropos to the times,” he explains. “Feeling out of place in culture, in society, being in a band that has been around for so long—not feeling like a part of any zeitgeist, but happy to be separate and living your simple life, your long fade-out. Living in a secluded place in an isolated time, it felt like a positive form of
acceptance: find your own little nowhere, find some space to fall apart, continue as a guest.”

Newman discovered new vocal approaches within his own talent. There are new and rich tones to Newman’s voice throughout Continue as a Guest, from his dusky lower register over “Angelcover” to his slippery slide over the glimmering synths of “Firework in the Falling Snow,” to bold tones he embraces on the soaring “Bottle Episodes.” Another sonic change comes courtesy of saxophonist Zach Djanikian, whose tenor and bass luxuriate all over Continue as a Guest’s alluring chassis, especially on the menacing build of “Pontius Pilate’s Home Movies.”

Along with Newman’s usual collaborators, several songwriters contribute. The bursting opener and first single “Really Really Light” is a co-write with Dan Bejar (Destroyer, the New Pornographers). Then there’s “Firework in the Falling Snow,” a collaboration with Sadie Dupuis of Speedy Ortiz and Sad13. “I was feeling like I wanted some help, so I sent it to Sadie and she sent me back this complete song that had these great lyrics,” Newman says. “She included the line ‘A firework in the falling snow,’ and I was like, ‘Yeah, that’s great.’ Sometimes you need that one thing to center the song, and even though I only used a few lines of hers in the end, I couldn’t have finished it without her.”

Even as Newman embraces a collaborative spirit more than ever, Continue as a Guest is a testament to his ability to discover new artistic sides of himself. “I started out as a songwriter more than as a singer, but at some point, you have to sing your own songs,” he says with a chuckle. “For a long time, I felt like the idea of changing a song because I couldn’t hit a note wasn’t okay—I could just get someone else to sing it. But I’m learning now that my songs can actually be a lot more malleable than I thought.” And it’s in that spirit that Continue as a Guest sounds like a thrilling path forward for The New Pornographers, with songs that generate a contagious feeling of excitement for the future as well.

TRACK LISTING

SIDE A
1. Really Really Light
2. Pontius Pilate’s Home Movies
3. Cat And Mouse With The Light
4. Last And Beautiful
5. Continue As A Guest
SIDE B
6. Bottle Episodes
7. Marie And The Undersea
8. Angelcover
9. Firework In The Falling Snow
10. Wish Automatic Suite

In December 2021, Matador Records will celebrate the 21st anniversary of The New Pornographers’ debut record and breakout, Mass Romantic (2000), with a limited-edition LP reissue. The album – clocking three singers and twelve effervescent and undeniable power-pop gems – will return to us on red vinyl and will include a bonus 7”, “Letter From An Occupant”, which includes two rare B-sides, “The End of Medicine” and “When I Was a Baby.” 

TRACK LISTING

Mass Romantic
The Fake Headlines
The Slow Descent Into Alcoholism
Mystery Hours
Jackie
Letter From An Occupant
To Wild Homes
The Body Says No
Execution Day
Centre For Holy Wars
The Mary Martin Show
Breakin’ The Law

Letter From An Occupant (7”)
The End Of Medicine (7”)
When I Was A Baby (7”)

Brill Bruisers is the first new release in four years from the acclaimed supergroup, who have been called, “Virtually peerless in the world of power-pop and indie-rock” by NPR Music. Additionally, the New Yorker describes the band’s music as “Magnificent and clever” while Stereogum proclaims “In recent history, no group has featured so much formidable established talent, collaborating on a regular basis.”

Of the album, lead-singer and main songwriter AC Newman comments, “This is a celebration record. After periods of difficulty, I am at a place where nothing in my life is dragging me down and the music reflects that. I’m grateful.”

Produced by band-members John Collin (bass) with Newman, the 12-track album was recorded primarily at Little Blue in Woodstock, NY and at JC/DC Studios in Vancouver B.C. with additional recording in Austin, Brooklyn and Vermont.

"Challengers" continues The New Pornographer's signature multi-layered sound with greater epic sweep and wider sonic diversity. Less frenetically jaunty than its predecessors but still encapsulating pure summer joy, this album will impress the existing fans and convert the uninitiated. Recorded for the first time largely outside bassist John Collins' Vancouver JC/DC Studio, "Challengers" is their most organic-sounding record, reflecting a conscious decision to use less 'beepy synth' and almost entirely 'real' instruments (in addition to those listed above, they recruited an entire string section – who have played with Sufjan Stevens - plus harp, flute, and more).