{"id":165116,"date":"2026-09-20T20:29:20","date_gmt":"2026-09-21T00:29:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/panm360.com\/?post_type=records&p=165116"},"modified":"2026-09-20T20:35:08","modified_gmt":"2026-09-21T00:35:08","slug":"interpol-this-mirror-weighs-a-ton","status":"publish","type":"records","link":"https:\/\/panm360.com\/en\/records\/interpol-this-mirror-weighs-a-ton\/","title":{"rendered":"Interpol – This Mirror Weighs A Ton"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Interpol is a band I had, despite a few drunken nostalgia playlist nights screaming \u201cStella was a Diver and she was Always Down<\/em>\u201d\u2014forgotten about, lost to the endless stream of new bands and new songs. The group\u2019s debut, Turn On The Bright Lights <\/em>was a seminal album for me, even though I didn\u2019t discover it many years after its release in 2002. A friend\u2019s brother, who also opened my musical ears to groups like Beastie Boys, Massive Attack, Gorillaz, and The Fall, had an Antics<\/em> (the band\u2019s second album) poster hanging in his wall. I always wondered what “Antics” was and for a brief spell, thought the band was called Antics. \u201cNo, they\u2019re called Interpol,\u201d the older brother said over a quickend lunch, tossing me a CD. It was Turn On The Bright Lights<\/em> and I devoured it. The haunting baritone of Paul Banks, baffling in his enunciation, fueled my 13-year-old teenage angst. It was indie rock, dark and gothic\u2014a sound that for a few of my years on this Earth, was the coolest sound one I had ever heard. The older brother called it \u201cpost-punk,\u201d and it was most likely the first time I had ever heard of the genre. I found Antics<\/em> online, a pirated a Chinese bootleg on Frostwire (dating myself I know)\u2014I\u2019m not sure why I didn\u2019t just ask the brother to borrow it? Embrassment or stupidty\u2014and ripped it on my Sony bean MP3.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I think I lost touch with the band sometime in the 2010s. They had more albums, but the love affair died. So it goes, I guess. Now, we are in 2026, and Interpol have released their eighth album, This Mirror Weighs A Ton<\/em>, and I\u2019m pleasantly surprised. Banks is still as baffling as all hell, holding onto certain words longer than they need to, to perhaps build the tension and have his listeners crave that oh-so-cathartic release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The opening title track, starts more electronic than I anticipated, a bit lo-fi Eno-esque, while a slurring lead guitar trips up and down. Banks sings in a hushed register, while some wispy female vocals arrive. Very Massive Attack, that is until Banks sings \u201cThis Mirror Weighs A Ton<\/em>,\u201d\u00a0 taking form as a wizard, singing about the Arcane qualities of the radio. It\u2019s a strange opener and brings a diluted version of the frenetic Interpol I expected.\u00a0\u201cSee Out Loud,\u201d is very anthemic, buzzing synths and that classic, gritty neo-noir guitar-leading punk Inteprol we all know. Thematically, at least in the first couple of listens, it’s a darkly poetic album, very Banks. But it’s more atmospherical than straight guitar rock, the lead guitar lines from Daniel Kessler ringing and bouncing off the rafters.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This Mirror Weighs A Ton<\/em> does have some duds, or at least, to me, songs that don\u2019t really hold water. \u201cIron City\u201d feels like an outtake from The National, someone I\u2019m pretty sure Banks holds in high regard. Both \u201cDarling Thoughts\u201d and \u201cEver The Actor\u201d have identity crises, beginning as buzzing indie burners and then dropping out of existence about halfway through. All the intensity Banks and Co. build kind of fizzles out in place for this, again subdued post-everything <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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But \u201cSo Rides The Reindeer\u201d sticks the abstract landing; actually, it\u2019s very Antic<\/em>s-coded, a lumbering and beautifully drunken composition. \u201cEnemy\u201d also brings back the hazy and smoky piano rock vibe (female vocals back) that Interpol has dabbled in before. Is Banks singing about his enemy\u2019s demise, or his very own? I\u2019ve never really tried to synthesize what his lyrics are truly about\u2014it\u2019s always been more of a vibe for me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of the hooks on this album are all there\u2014Interpol has always been adept at writing those. Still, I\u2019m not sure if any of these tracks will follow me for years, like the group\u2019s first two, but it occurs to me that This Mirror Weighs A Ton<\/em> will be some listener\u2019s first introduction to Interpol, and that gives me a warm feeling inside. Perhaps someone else\u2019s brother will open the door to another young kid\u2019s musical world. Who knows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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