Interpol's Forthcoming Album 'Relaxed and Dynamic'

There seems to be a lack of consensus among Interpol's members regarding the sound of the group's forthcoming fourth album. Singer Paul Banks has talked in interviews about a heavily orchestrated, sonically adventurous record, while drummer Sam Fogarino has promised a return to the sound of 'Turn on the Bright Lights,' the band's spare and somber 2002 debut. Spinner decided to ask Fogarino for some clarification.

"I think it's a balance," he says of the self-titled record, which drops Sept. 7 via Matador. "My main point was that the band could expand all at once but at the same time you can't lose your identity. These songs are reminiscent of an early period of the band."

In particular, Fogarino hears echoes of the early '00s in guitarist Daniel Kessler's playing, when Interpol sulked its way out of the New York City underground, ushering in the decade's post-punk revival.

"It was a little more, I guess, in the way the songs were written," Fogarino says, elaborating on his 'Turn on the Bright Lights' comparisons. "They became a little more prominent, the quintessential Kessler [guitar] parts. That's what reminded me of the early period of the band."

Interpol recorded the album before parting ways with Capitol Records, the label that issued its third album, 2007's 'Our Love to Admire.' Fogarino says he and his band mates worked largely on their own, handling all of the details of recording.

"Doing administrative stuff like that really illuminates your self-control, which then helps the creative process, because you're so relaxed, because it's you taking care of business," he says. "At that point, we really felt like we were operating without a record label, although while we were writing we were still contractually obligated to Capitol. But we really knew it was going to end."

Fogarino says that even though the new album takes some cues from 'Our Love to Admire,' incorporating keyboards, it's "so much more convincing and realized." Whereas before there was a "separation between the orchestration and the rock element," he adds, the sounds now overlap.

"We kind of view it like 'Our Love' was a clenched first; this record is kind of more an open hand," he says. "It's really relaxed and dynamic."