re: tegan and sara, "the con"

here is a blurb I did on Tegan and Sara's The Con for a larger piece on The Polaris Music Prizes. Here's the published version. the uncut version is below:

I had Tegan and Sara’s The Con spinning for weeks after it was released and I still have bouts where I just repeat all for days. The T&S are an acquired taste for many, and even fans are often pitted against each other in clichéd “old vs. new” battles. I loved the rawness of past efforts, but this offering is their most mature, well crafted and cleverly conceived album. Credit goes mostly to song-writing and composition, though the production is definitely sleeker (old school T&S fans may balk).

Personally though, The Con just hit the spot in that “this echoes my life and things I think about myself” kind of way. The single “Back in Your Head” is addictive, and “Relief Next to Me” and “Call It Off” express a quiet self-reflection that off-sets nicely the pop sensibilities of the album as a whole