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Tegan and Sara: Crybaby review – soundtrack to the world’s bleakest house party

(Mom + Pop)
The Quin twins return to a more indie-rock style on this unwavering account of unsteady emotional times

Canadian twins Tegan and Sara Quin’s 10th album was born out of lockdown-assisted stress and trauma, a fact hammered home by song titles such as Smoking **** Alone, Pretty ****** Time and This Ain’t Going Well. Adroit at pairing incisive, deeply personal lyrics with stadium-sized pop melodies – either housed in elastic synth pop or, as they favour here, more roughed-up indie-rock – on Crybaby they’re soundtracking the world’s bleakest house party.

Galloping opener I Can’t Grow Up sets the tone. While it rushes forward on tumbling drums and scuffed-up synths, the lyrics paint a desolate picture of emotional abuse (“You’re a hangman killing my hope”), anchored by an unwavering sense of disorientation. In fact, throughout Crybaby’s 12 short, sharp songs, the ground continually shifts; the pogoing I’m Okay is punctuated by eerily chirping backing vocals, while closer Whatever That Was sounds like it’s slowly fraying at the edges.

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