Messed!Up
Emerging from New York City in 1997, Interpol became one of the defining bands of the early-2000s post-punk revival. Built around guitarist Daniel Kessler, vocalist and guitarist Paul Banks, bassist Carlos Dengler and drummer Greg Drudy – later replaced by Sam Fogarino – the band developed a sound that was simultaneously austere, romantic, and cinematic. Their 2002 debut, Turn on the Bright Lights, arrived like a blast of cold Manhattan air: taut guitars, ominous bass, relentless drums and Banks’ sepulchral baritone creating a noirish atmosphere that felt both contemporary and deeply indebted to Joy Division, The Chameleons and The Cure.
Antics (2004) expanded that formula without diluting its darkness, producing enduring songs including “Evil”, “Slow Hands” and “C’mere”. Our Love to Admire (2007) subsequently pushed Interpol towards a larger, more expansive rock sound, before Dengler’s departure in 2010 marked the end of the band’s original era. Rather than disappearing, however, Interpol entered a period of gradual reinvention.
The past decade has proved particularly revealing. El Pintor (2014) was effectively a fresh beginning, with Banks assuming bass duties and the remaining trio rediscovering the tension and immediacy of their early work. Marauder (2018) followed with a rougher, more muscular character, embracing imperfection and momentum. Four years later, The Other Side of Make-Believe demonstrated a more contemplative side, its atmospheric textures and melancholy suggesting a band increasingly interested in nuance rather than simply recreating its classic sound.
The 2020s have brought an unexpected second wind. In 2024, Interpol celebrated Antics’ twentieth anniversary with an extensive tour, while a free Mexico City concert reportedly drew around 160,000 people — an extraordinary reminder that their influence extends well beyond the indie-rock audience that first embraced them.
Now, almost three decades after their formation, Interpol are entering another chapter. This Mirror Weighs a Ton, released today, finds the band working with producer Andrew Wyatt and expanding their palette with synthesizers, strings, acoustic instrumentation and electronic textures. It also features Daniel Kessler on vocals for the first time since “PDA”.
The remarkable thing about Interpol is not that they have escaped their past, but that they have learned how to inhabit it differently. Their music remains steeped in shadow, yet three decades of experience have given those shadows greater depth. What began as the soundtrack to turn-of-the-century New York has become something more enduring: a carefully maintained language of tension, longing and nocturnal beauty.
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Interpol: ‘This Mirror Weighs a Ton’
